The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Sri Lanka for promoting cooperation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics.  The MoU was signed on 15^th January, 2018 during the visit of Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Sri Lanka.

The MoU intends to promote closer co-operation in the areas of e-Governance, m-Governance, e-Public Services Delivery, cyber security, software technology parks, start-ups ecosystem etc.

The MoU shall be implemented by establishing a Working Group on IT&E composed of representatives of the two Parties. Bilateral Cooperation in ICT domain both B2B and G2G will be enhanced.

Background:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been mandated to promote international cooperation in the emerging and frontier areas of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) under bilateral and regional framework of cooperation. MeitY has entered into MoUs / Agreements with counterpart organizations/agencies of various countries to promote close cooperation and exchange of information in the area of ICT. To further enhance cooperation with various countries, particularly in view of the new initiatives taken by Government of India like "Digital India", "Make in India" etc., there is an increased need for exploring business opportunities in the technology sector which are of interest.

The  Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka in 2015 did a synergy in India's neighbourhood first policy. To extend the cooperation to IT sector, the Indian Mission in Colombo and MEA had emphasized on evolving a framework for active cooperation. In this regard, the MeitY negotiated a comprehensive MoU for a focussed cooperation in ICT areas such as in e-Governance, cyber security, B2B partnership, IT education and research / innovation, etc.

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AKT/VBA/SH