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OPINION NOVEMBER 05, 2021 | The Indian Eye 16

cific”. The minilateral group also India and the US have resolved
launched “a critical- and emerg- to “revive the High Technology
ing-technology working group to Cooperation Group (HTCG)
facilitate cooperation on inter- in early 2022, to accelerate high
national standards and innova- technology commerce in key
tive technologies of the future”. areas”. In October 2020, India
Building on the spirit of techno- joined Japan and Five Eyes Alli-
logical cooperation, the Quad ance countries to demand access
took a holistic view of the emerg- to end-to-end encrypted com-
ing technologies and associated munication from big tech com-
issues. In the realm of 5G mo- panies.
bile networks, the Quad, during Thus, in addition to its exist-
the first-ever in-person summit ing agenda of securing free and
in September 2021, decided open Indo-Pacific, the Quad is
to deploy “secure, open, and fast embracing the emerging
transparent 5G and beyond-5G technology as a critical area to
networks” from trustworthy ven- build upon. By spindling around
dors. The statement exuded con- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the emerging technologies, the
fidence about coming up with US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Quad is successfully expand-
the “open, standards-based 5G before the Quad summit in Washington DC (ANI) ing horizontally. Similarly, with
technology”. Individually, the the initiatives such as the Quad
Quad countries devised formal plus—which included the foreign
and informal policies to deny secretary-level meeting of New
entry to untrustworthy telecom Zealand, Vietnam, South Korea
vendors. The leaders also an- and the foreign ministers-level
nounced sector-specific contact meeting of Brazil, South Korea,
groups to develop technical Israel to discuss COVID-19—
standards for emerging technol- the Quad is stretching laterally.
ogies. They launched the Quad As authoritarian societies are
Principles on Technology Design, better equipped to extract data
Development, Governance, and from their citizens than free
Use with the purpose of “guid- societies, the Quad is trying to
ing not only the region but the offer an alternative model dif-
world towards responsible, open, ferent from the coercive vision
high-standards innovation”. of the authoritarian states in the
Sensing the vulnerabilities Indo-Pacific. With the emerging
in the supply chains, the Quad Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the Quad summit technology intruding into our
leaders decided “to map the in Washington DC (ANI) daily lives and changing how na-
supply chain of the critical tech- tions create power and wield it
nologies and materials” and di- working with other like-minded pan signed a Memorandum of against one another, the Quad is
versify the same. Further, India, countries for an initiative titled Understanding in January 2021, proving to be a prudent minilat-
Japan and Australia launched “Global Partnership on Artificial to enhance cooperation in In- eral to cope with the technologi-
Supply Chain Resilience Initia- Intelligence” under the auspic- formation and Communications cal churn in the Indo-Pacific.
tive (SCRI) to counter Chinese es of the Organisation for Eco- Technologies, covering 5G tech-
dominance of the supply chains nomic Co-operation and Devel- nologies, telecom security, sub- Niranjan Chandrashekhar Oak
in the region. The need to diver- opment (OECD) that promotes marine optical fibre cable system is a Research Analyst at Mano-
sify the supply chains away from inclusive and responsible use of to islands of India, and spectrum har Parrikar Institute for Defence
China was felt intensely in the Artificial Intelligence. management, among others. Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA),
light of deteriorating relations Domestically, India is taking Similarly, India and Australia New Delhi.
between China and members baby steps to shape the rules have set up the India–Australia Views expressed are of the author
of Quad. As Amitendu Palit has and norms vis-à-vis emerging Joint Working Group on Cyber
argued, the repositioning of stra- technologies such as 5G and Security Cooperation. The two and do not necessarily reflect the
tegic supply chains, especially in Artificial Intelligence on inter- countries have also signed the views of the Manohar Parrikar
the field of semiconductors and national platforms. The country Memorandum of Understand- IDSA or of the Government of
India.
telecommunications, was part of is debating the issues related to ing on critical minerals. India
a broader strategy to decouple data sovereignty vigorously. It is also cooperating with ASE- This is the abridged version of the
from China and “to develop a has also come up with an Ap- AN for capacity building and article which appeared first in the
coalition of like-minded coun- proach Document on Artificial knowledge sharing in the areas Comment section of the website
tries for taking on an assertive Intelligence. Bilaterally, India is of Internet of Things (IoT) and (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Parri-
China in the Indo-Pacific”. In collaborating with like-minded 5G, among others, to achieve kar Institute for Defense Studies
the realm of Artificial Intelli- countries in the field of emerg- the ASEAN Digital Masterplan and Analyses, New Delhi on
gence, the Quad countries are ing technologies. India and Ja- 2025 (ADM2025). Separately, October 28, 2021

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