India and Japan Release Joint Statement on Cooperation for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

India and Japan held a Joint Working Group conference for Comprehensive Cooperation Framework for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Further they decided to release a joint statement as under: Taking forward the agenda of India-Japan ICT Comprehensive Cooperation Framework, the Second India – Japan Joint Working Group conference was held on December 03, 2014, under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of India and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan (MIC). The conference was inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology of India. The conference was co-chaired by Shri. Yasuo Sakamoto, the Vice Minister for Policy Coordination of the MIC from Japan and Shri Rakesh Garg, Secretary (Telecom) from India, was preceded by a bilateral meeting of officials of the two sides. The conference was attended by representatives of the ICT industry also of both Japan and India. In the bilateral meeting of the officials, both sides exchanged views on ICT policies in both countries and developments in the field with the aim of strengthening and deepening cooperation in the field of ICT, including ICT products manufacturing and R & D between Japan and India. During the conference both sides gave presentations on the areas where joint projects are possible to be undertaken immediately. Taking forward the agenda of the Joint Statement made at the India-Japan Summit Meeting in September 2014 by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister Shri Shinzo Abe on promoting cooperation in the field of ICT, both sides prioritized areas of Green ICT, Cyber Security Cooperation and ICT for Disaster Management for detailed deliberations with a view to start working on the implementation of these joint projects by early 2015. At the summit,  both sides had arrived at consensus not only on the deepening of relations between both India and Japan in the field of ICT but also on recognition of the contribution of ICT to solve global challenges, and expressed their expectations toward further development of cooperation between India and Japan in the field of ICT. During the conference, Japan made a proposal for candidates of joint projects involving the said priority areas, and as a result of discussions, it was decided to work on the following five projects as India-Japan joint projects to be implemented. ü        Green ICT -  Green Mobile Base Station project ü        Cyber Security Cooperation -  Japan-India Combat Spam project - Cooperative project for detecting symptoms and quick response to cyber attacks (PRACTICE) ü        ICT for Disaster Management (ICT4DM) -  ICT Use in disaster-affected areas project  ü        ICT Application for Social and Economic Challenges -  National ID Application and Utilization Platform project MCIT, India and MIC, Japan will coordinate the activities for taking these projects forward by discussing with the industry from both sides. Further exchange of views and opinions were made on the areas, such as development of standards, for future cooperation based on the constructive presentations from both Japan and India. Further, India offered Japan to manufacture ICT equipment in India taking advantage of new conducive environment for manufacturing in India. The next joint working group conference and meeting is to be held in 2015 in Tokyo.