Under Secretary of Commerce Kenneth I. Juster, left, addressing the India-U.S. Information Security Summit 2004 in New Delhi on Oct. 12. The others are, from left, Kiran Karnik, president of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Jerry Rao, chairman of NASSCOM and CEO of Mphasis BFL Ltd., and Minister of State for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Kapil Sibal. (Photo: Courtesy, http://usembassy.state.gov)

New Delhi : Cyber security is one of the keys to unlocking the full potential of trade and technology relationship between the U.S. and India and the two countries must work closely in this area, a senior U.S. official said on Oct. 12.

“As commerce between the U.S. and India expands, consumers and corporations will seek to ensure that their personal information and business proprietary data are secure,” U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce Kenneth I. Juster said at the India-U.S. Information Security Summit 2004 here. “Without adequate level of security, we run the risk of backlash among consumers and loss of confidence among business people that could severely limit progress in our trade and technology relationship,” he warned.

Sibal delivering the keynote address at the event. (Photo: Courtesy, Press Information Bureau)

Security, therefore, drives the growing high-tech trade between the U.S. and India, Juster told the seminar co-hosted by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). “While cyber attack would not be considered a weapon of ma-ss destruction, it can be thought of as a weapon of mass disruption,” he said in his talk, titled ‘Cyber Security: A Key to U.S.-India Trade.’

Juster said that while India’s software exports to the U.S. amounted to $12.5 billion in the past year, a significant portion of the U.S. service sector exports to India was in the area of information technology. “As these trends continue, the United States and India must work together to ensure a secure environment for information exchanges, commercial transactions and software development,” he said.

Juster also hoped the two countries could establish a 24x7 watch and warning capabilities in this area and anticipated a discussion on it at the next meeting of the U.S.-India Cybersecurity Forum in Washington, D.C., in November.

According to the lawyer-administrator, the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCH) that was established in 2002 had resulted in enhanced trade between the two countries.

“In our fiscal year 2002, which ran from October 2001 through September 2002, the U.S. government approved 423 license applications for dual-use exports to India, valued at almost $27 million,” he said.

For fiscal 2004, Washington received twice as many license applications and the approval rate also jumped from 84 percent to 90 percent, Juster said, adding that approved applications stood at 912, with an overall value of $90 million. Juster said U.S.-India high-tech relationship now stretched even further with the framework pact this year called the ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP)’ that responded to New Delhi’s desire for U.S. technology for peaceful purposes.

“It acknowledges India’s role as a major power while appreciating that it takes time to build a lasting strategic partnership,” he said, adding that it also sets the process to create and build on successes achieved in the area.

Earlier, ITAA president Harris N. Miller said his organization was fighting a sustained battle to instill some common sense in the U.S. on the merits of outsourcing. “We are going to win this battle since we have some 700 years of common sense behind us,” he said, adding

that a challenge greater than assuaging feelings on job loss in the U.S. was the issue of cyber security.

Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told the seminar that even though India had laws such as Electronic Commerce Act of 1998 and the Information Technology Act of 2002, legislations on cyber security were not strong enough. “We should seriously think in terms of putting in place such laws,” he said.

Sibal said that along with stronger cyber security laws, India must also statutorily provide for the right to privacy. “The U.S. Constitution provides for right to privacy, whereas the Indian Constitution gives the right to information.”