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After 27 years of intense diplomacy, the UN recently launched Global Mechanism (GM) for Cyberspace. Built on the July 11 Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) consensus, it’s a new, permanent international forum to advance responsible state behaviour in cyberspace, focusing on norms, international law, capacity building and confidence-building measures.
The path to GM has been anything but smooth. The Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) process, which dominated cyber diplomacy from 2004 to 2017, achieved significant milestones. However, GGE processes, with their restricted memberships, had limited mandates. The more inclusive OEWG process, initiated in 2018, proved transformational. OEWG allowed all 193 UN member-states to participate and enabled a wide- ranging consensus, including GM.
What made consensus possible was a shared recognition that cyberthreats transcend traditional boundaries, as well as geopolitical and ideological differences. Cybercriminals operate with impunity across borders without regard for political systems. These shared vulnerabilities created incentives for cooperation even among strategic competitors.
India is uniquely positioned to shape GM’s trajectory. As the world’s largest democracy, a major tech power, and a country with autonomous capacities, positions and interests, India possesses the diplomatic capital, technical expertise and strategic vision to make GM effective.
India’s approach to the OEWG process exemplified diplomatic capabilities and attitudes that could make it a natural leader in GM. Throughout negotiations, India advocated for inclusive governance, robust capacity-building mechanisms and balanced approaches to digital sovereignty that respect national autonomy and international cooperation.
India’s domestic digital transformation further enhances its international credibility. India’s world-class IT sector has an established track record. The success of Digital India and DPI initiatives – from Aadhaar to UPI – demonstrates India’s practical experience with large-scale digital governance. These achievements provide tangible examples for other developing countries.
GM’s success will largely depend on its ability to address persistent digital divide that limits many countries’ participation in cyber governance. India can lead these capacity-building efforts, drawing on its experience, both as a major tech producer and a developing economy that has successfully navigated digital transformation challenges.
India’s IT sector, with its global reach and expertise, ranging from software development to cybersecurity services, provides a substantial foundation for its technical assistance programmes that have trained tens of thousands in the ‘global south’.
The country’s emphasis on frugal innovation and locally appropriate technologies offers sustainable models for helping other developing nations build cyber capabilities without excessive dependence on expensive external solutions. Its educational infrastructure – including its world-renowned IITs and extensive technical training programmes – provides platforms for delivering capacity-building at scale. The country has also leveraged cyberspace to scale models for distance learning and digital education.
India has consistently articulated interests of the ‘global south’. It is well known that developmental priorities have fallen victim to great power competition. Access to tech and resources is threatened by fragmented international cooperation on cyber issues. Diverging normative approaches to internet governance along geopolitical lines often lead to the marginalisation of these existential developmental concerns.
GM’s establishment could potentially mark the emergence of new beginnings in international cyber governance. A permanent multilateral institutional framework specifically designed to address the unique challenges of cyberspace is a noteworthy innovation with considerable promise and requires support and nurturing.
GM’s true test lies ahead in implementation. Political agreements must translate into behavioural change, voluntary norms require compliance mechanisms, and capacity-building programmes must deliver tangible results. The attribution problem – determining responsibility for cyberattacks – remains technically and politically complex. Geopolitical tensions are undermining trust and cooperation.
Cyber technologies are just one among a suite of intersecting critical and emerging technologies. India’s priorities in tech during its leadership of G20 and the vision of human-centric globalisation articulated by the PM provide an intellectual framework for conceptualising international governance frameworks in emerging technologies, including cyberspace. India’s forthcoming stewardship of the AI Impact Summit will provide further concrete inputs.
As cyberthreats continue to evolve and new technologies reshape the digital landscape, the need for effective international cooperation in emerging technologies will only grow. India’s moment to lead is here and now.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
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