O p en -en d ed Work in g G rou p on d evelop m en ts in th e field of in form ation an d
telecom m u n ication s in th e con text of in tern ation al secu rity (O EWG )
[Informal virtual consultations, 18-22 February 2021]
In d ia’s rem ark s/com m en ts on th e O EWG Zero d raft
Mr. Chair,
First of all, m y d elegation w ou ld like to thank you for you r lead ership on
steering the OEWG d iscu ssions. Du ring the three-d ay d eliberations from 18-22
Febru ary 2021 over virtu al m od e, m y d elegation has m ad e general rem arks as w ell
as sp ecific para-w ise com m ents on the zero d raft. We also thank the Chair,
Am bassad or Lau ber and his UN ODA team / secretariat for bring ou t a
com p rehensive d raft report of the OEWG capturing variou s elem ents of the
d iscu ssions held since Septem ber 2019.
2.
My d elegation w as w ond ering w hen and how w ou ld w e d o the logical textbased negotiations of the report given the short tim e available w ith u s. Discu ssions
on significant langu age su ggestions, ed its, etc. w ou ld becom e critical for bringing
consensu s.
3.
Ou r d elegation has proposed som e changes/ ed its/ proposal on the zero d raft
to im p rove the d raft and refine fu rther for w id e acceptability to achieve a consensu s
on the rep ort. The su ggestions on the d raft are m ad e w ith d u e d iligence and keeping
in m ind the national interest on the d evelopm ent in the field of ICT in the context of
International secu rity.
4.
For instance, on the stru ctu re of the d raft there are tw o d ivisions, one is
‘Conclusions and Recommendations’ and other is ‘the OEWG recommends that’, w here
w e p rop ose to com bine / m erge into one.
5.
I also thank the Chair & the UN ODA Secretariat for incorporating ou r
contribu tions. While cap tu ring elem ents from ou r contribu tion, som e critical areas
have not been su itably reflected , w hich can be ad d ressed . Som e of the m any, m y
d elegation pays m ore attention to the phrases “tru st and tru sted sources” in
p articu lar focu s on the su p p ly chain, w hich has been highlighted by u s earlier. On
the ‘Trust’, focu sing on the risk that it can pose inherently or otherw ise, backd oor
entry in the ICT item s and system s inclu d ing the CII/ CI, the lack of integrity of
su p p ly chains and u se of harm fu l hid d en fu nctions can affect the entire ICT system s
and p otentially threaten the secu rity of a State. In this regard , w e propose to insert
‘State should use trusted products and should recognize the need to establish national
measures for acquiring such items from trusted suppliers’.
6.
Und er the introd u ction para, the expression ‘radical transformation’ d oes not
exactly captu re pioneering w ork that w as d one by the United N ations since its
establishm ent. We requ est to u se an alternative expression in p lace of ‘Despite radical