India, US Sign Agreement on Cyber-Security Cooperation

India and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of cyber-security, an official statement said in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"India and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT- In) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology of the government of India and the Department of Homeland Security, government of the United States of America on cooperation in the field of cyber-security," the statement said.

The agreement was signed by Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Richard Verma, US Ambassador to India, on Wednesday in New Delhi.

"The MoU intends to promote closer co-operation and the exchange of information pertaining to the cyber security in accordance with the relevant laws, rules and regulations of each economy and this MoU and on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit," the statement said.

Earlier the US and India had signed an MoU on July 19, 2011 to promote closer cooperation and timely exchange of information between the organisations of their respective governments responsible for cyber-security.

Since, July 19, 2011, regular interactions between CERT-In and US CERT are taking place to share the information and discuss cyber-security related issues.

In continuation to the cooperation in cyber-security areas both have renewed the MoU, the statement added.