New Delhi (PTI): India stands at a "significant juncture" in the evolution of its "technology diplomacy", a parliamentary panel has said, and recommended to the government to establish an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism on it, chaired by the MEA, with defined participation from other ministries.
The Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in its nearly 260-page report -- 'India's role in global tech diplomacy, digital governance, outer space diplomacy, AI, and emerging innovations' -- has also recommend that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) should create an "enabling environment" for industry bodies and research institutions to participate more closely in technology diplomacy.
The Committee has noted that India has emerged as a significant technology power with "tech diplomacy as a core priority".
India stands at a significant juncture in the evolution of its technology diplomacy, as technology and foreign policy increasingly intersect, it said.
India possesses "genuine and growing capability" across digital public infrastructure, space technology and artificial intelligence, and has demonstrated an ability to convene international coalitions, as seen in the G20 Digital Economy Working Group and the India AI Impact Summit, the panel added.
The Committees has recommend that the MEA sustain this momentum and treat technology partnerships as a core, first-order component of its bilateral and multilateral engagement strategy, with "technology considerations integrated into country and regional desk assessments rather than handled as a stand-alone technical track".
It has further recommend that the MEA, in coordination with MeitY, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology ensure that India's technology diplomacy is explicitly oriented towards reducing the country's dependence on a narrow set of foreign countries for critical hardware, advanced components and frontier AI models, and not solely towards deepening engagement with existing partners.
The panel also said it is "concerned that India still lacks several of the basic foundations that would make it a genuine AI power: reliable, centrally measured data on its own infrastructure; adequate data centre and compute capacity; timely access to advanced chips; and a level of private investment in frontier technology and large-scale model development that matches the scale of India's ambition".
The panel has recommend that the government should respond to the situation as the moment demands and give utmost priority to "closing the gaps in India's AI journey".
The panel also suggested that the government should establish a formally constituted "Inter-Ministerial Coordination Mechanism on Technology Diplomacy", chaired by the MEA, with defined participation from MeitY, DST, the Department of Space, and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
"This body should meet at a specified periodicity, so that coordination does not get limited to case-by-case arrangements but is institutionalised within a broader framework where activities can be monitored and followed up," the Commitee observed.
It has also recommend that the MEA, in consultation with the concerned ministries including MeitY, should actively reach out to all stakeholders, including academia, research institutions and industry, and initiate consultations on a 'Technology Vision and Strategy Document' that brings together India's objectives, priorities, sequencing and institutional responsibilities across digital governance, artificial intelligence, cyber issues, space and emerging technologies within a coherent framework.
In addition, the MEA should also prepare a "complementary Technology Diplomacy Strategy".
The Committee is of the firm view that unless the MEA moves in this direction, India's claim to be regarded as a "credible and consequential player in the global technological arena will fail to seize the opportunities that this moment presents".
"The Document as well as the Strategy should also be placed in the public domain and reviewed periodically to keep pace with technological change," it underlined.
The Committee has suggested the MEA to work with MeitY to advance India's priorities on AI-related data protection in bilateral and multilateral engagements, including "safeguards for cross border use of personal data" and cooperation on breaches involving overseas entities should be informed by the application of its domestic data protection framework to AI systems.
The panel also recommend that MEA should promote practical use of appropriate AI tools in its work to improve institutional effectiveness and deepen diplomat's understanding of technology, with safeguards for sensitive information and human oversight.
It has further suggested that the MEA should maintain and periodically update, for the Committee's review, a "consolidated register of all bilateral and minilateral technology partnerships", including specific commitments made, their implementation status, and the diplomatic and strategic value derived from each.
The Committee has further desired that India press for emerging global norms on AI, data governance and digital infrastructure to be shaped through the active engagement and participation of developing countries.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.