Cyber & space diplomacy

Story hook

It is 23 August 2023, 6:04 PM IST. Bengaluru ISRO Mission Control. S. Somanath, ISRO Chairman, leans into his console. Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander is 25 km above the Moon's south polar surface. 17 minutes of terror begin. Powered descent. Altitude reducing. Hover. And then — "India is on the Moon". Modi, watching from Johannesburg BRICS Summit, applauds. India becomes the 4th nation to soft-land on the Moon, and the 1st nation ever to reach the lunar south polar region.

Within hours Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Bill Nelson (NASA Administrator), Jens Stoltenberg, Olaf Scholz, Yoon Suk-yeol

• 200+ world leaders congratulate India. The UN General Assembly later in September observes a moment of acknowledgement. National Space Day is declared on 23 August by India.

Three years earlier, June 2020: Indian government opens the space sector for private participation through IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre). Within four years, 190+ space startups raise $300+ million. Skyroot + Agnikul + Pixxel + Bellatrix + Dhruva Space + GalaxEye put Indian space in private orbits.

Cut to 8-12 October 2024, Riyadh: Global Cybersecurity Forum 2024. India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and CERT-In Director General S. Krishnan participate. India has now signed MoUs on cybersecurity with US, UK, Japan, Germany, Singapore, France, Israel, Australia, UAE, Saudi, Bahrain. Quad Cyber Group holds its 3rd dialogue. The DPDP Act 2023 is fully notified in July 2024 by Ashwini Vaishnaw, MeitY. India is no longer a back-room player in cyber + space diplomacy — it is a setter of norms at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), and UN Open-Ended Working Group on ICT security (OEWG).

Why this matters for UPSC

Prelims: IN-SPACe (June 2020); NSIL (March 2019); ISpA; National Cyber Security Strategy (draft 2020/2022); DPDP Act 2023 (notified August 2023, in force 2024); Quad Cyber Group; IGF (since 2006); Bombay Group/Multistakeholder Advisory Group; ITU (since 1865, India founder member 1869); COPUOS; Artemis Accords (India joined June 2023); GISAT-1, Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1, Gaganyaan.

Mains GS-II/III: India's space diplomacy as soft power; private sector commercialisation; norm-setting in cyber; data sovereignty + data localisation debate; cross-border data flows; misinformation + electoral integrity; cyber warfare doctrine; UN sovereignty norms vs multistakeholderism.

Interview: Should cyber be the 5th domain of war? Is India ready for cyber norms leadership? Why did India join Artemis Accords but not LSA (Lunar Surface Agreement)?