No country can protect its citizens from cyber threats alone: Modi

New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday has pitched for framing of global rules and regulations in the fields of telecommunications and Internet, as they are beyond restrictions and boundaries of any country.

“All the digital tools and applications that are available today are beyond restrictions, beyond the boundaries of any country. Therefore, no country can protect its citizens from cyber threats alone. For this, we will have to work together, global institutions will have to come forward and take responsibility,” Modi said.

Speaking here at the inaugural session of India Mobile Congress (IMC 2024) and International Telecom Union - World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (ITU-WTSA), he said that just as a framework of global rules and regulations for the aviation sector was made, the digital world also needs a similar framework.

“And for this, WTSA will have to work more actively. I would like to ask every member of WTSA to think about how to make telecommunications safe for everyone. In this interconnected world, security cannot be an after-thought. India’s Data Protection Act and National Cyber Security Strategy show our commitment towards creating a safe digital ecosystem,” the Prime Minister noted.

Global standards

He urged the members of the assembly to create standards that are inclusive, secure and adaptable to every challenge of the future. Create global standards for ethical AI and data privacy that also respect the diversity of different countries.

Modi further said that it was very important that in today’s technological revolution the world continuously strive to give technology human centric dimensions.

“It is our responsibility to make this revolution responsible and sustainable. The standards we set today will determine the direction of our future. Therefore, the principles of security, dignity and equity should be at the centre of our discussions. Our aim should be that no country, no region and no community should be left behind in this digital age. We have to ensure that our future is technically strong as well as ethically sound, there is innovation and inclusion in our future,” Modi said.

Highlighting the achievements in the last 10 years, Modi said that reforms and innovations that India has done in the telecom sector are unimaginable and unprecedented. This has reduced the cost of data to a great extent. For instance, the cost of internet data in India is around 12 cents per GB, whereas in many countries of the world, one GB of data is 10 to 20 times more expensive than this.

Indian consumers

“Today, every Indian consumes an average of about 30 GB of data every month...The JAM trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile has become the basis for many new innovations. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has given new opportunities to many new companies. Now a similar discussion is going on about ONDC. A new revolution in digital commerce is also going to come from ONDC,” he said.

He informed that India has a mobile phone user base of 120 crore, 95 crore internet users and digital transactions of more than 40 per cent of the entire world in real-time.

“Two years ago, we launched 5G in the Mobile Congress itself. Today, almost every district of India has been connected with 5G service. Today, India has become the second largest 5G market in the world. And, now we are also working fast on 6G technology,” Modi added.