ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR PROPOSED DELIVERABLE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001318 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE/PM FOR MMARKOFF AND ERUSSELL STATE/INL FOR JVIGIL E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KCIP KCRM ECPS EFIN TINT IN SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR PROPOSED DELIVERABLE ON INDO-US CYBER SECURITY COOPERATION REF: STATE 25966 Classified By: DCM obert Blake for reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (U) This is an Action Request for PM -- see Para 5. ¶2. (SBU) National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) Joint Secretary Arvind Gupta and NSCS Deputy Director Cdr. Mukesh SIPDIS Saini on February 21 discussed with Poloff Reftel questions relating to Articles 1.2 (the joint Cybersecurity Fund (CF)) and 1.3 (the Cybersecurity Training Institute) of the US-India Cybersecurity Protocol of Agreement. Regarding the CF, the GOI seeks an initial investment of 100,000 USD from each side, with a commitment to future, equal contributions that would be mutually determined. The GOI wants to keep the language vague to prevent limiting the CF as our cyber cooperation evolves, Gupta told us. For example, restricting the fund's use to the current five cybersecurity working groups would force the parties to amend the document if additional working groups are approved; Gupta also noted that some mutually beneficial cybersecurity activities might not neatly fit into a working group's mandate. New Delhi is open to USG amended language that allows for fund expenditure for any cybersecurity capacity building activity which falls under the umbrella of the Cybersecurity Forum; the details of fund management and accountability would be worked out bilaterally after the Protocol is signed. We understand the hunt is on in Washington to identify USG funding sources, including possibly through INL. Gupta and Saini have indicated that the GOI may reach out to the Indian private sector to secure their share of future infusions of funds but they believe they can obtain the initial contribution from government coffers. ¶3. (SBU) Gupta clarified that the "facility" the GOI seeks is not to be a physical structure, but would be more accurately described as a program to foster cooperative academic research education and R&D initiatives between US and Indian universities, which would include common curricula and text books, augmented by student exchanges. The GOI wishes to promote R&D collaboration in areas such as forensics and cryptology, for example, and to develop mirror programs in an Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a US institution. Gupta and Saini indicated that IISc/Bangalore would be their choice for the Indian institution; Saini said IISc/Bangalore is already engaging with Carnegie Mellon along these lines. ¶4. (SBU) Gupta suggested that CF funds could be used to promote the academic relationship with scholarships for students. Gupta also raised with Poloff the prospect of helping Indian (and presumably US) universities develop post-graduate degree programs on cybersecurity. (NOTE: Currently, some Indian IT programs include courses on information security, but none have a full curriculum dedicated to cybersecurity. End Note.) Gupta was confident that the CF and academic programs could be managed concurrently. ¶5. (C) Action Request for PM: As adept as Gupta and Saini are at working the Indian bureaucracy, they are turning to us (read: Washington) to provide the amended language for the Cybersecurity Protocol of Agreement. They would not say so directly, but our impression is that they believe they can clear USG-approved language within the GOI more easily than they can craft language that will pass Washington's muster. Comment: Time is of the Essence -------------- ¶6. (C) Gupta recognizes that many operational details remain to be worked out; the focus here is on producing a mutually acceptable document that charts the path for cybersecurity cooperation forward and produces something tangible along the NEW DELHI 00001318 002 OF 002 way, and to do so in time for the POTUS visit. Mission believes that the USG will be able to structure the CF's management and retain sufficient control to ensure accountability. Post is unsure how much the USG would need the CF to finance our own training or capacity building, but it would ease the budgetary shock of trying to arrange USG travel to cybersecurity events in India, which has bedeviled many past cyber events. Gupta and Saini look forward to working out the details once the commitment to moving forward has been cemented and the agreement has been signed. ¶7. (C) Saini is clearly the driving force behind the GOI's focus on cybersecurity, as well as one of the most dynamic GOI bureaucrats we know. Saini will retire from government service in April, and will be out of the NSCS as of early or mid-March; his replacement has not yet been identified. In addition to the deadline posed by including a cybersecurity deliverable for the POTUS visit, our best chance of forward movement on cybersecurity cooperation is during the remainder of Saini's tenure. ¶8. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: (http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/) MULFORD