India has developed larger “digital cooperation MoUs” with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, said Joint Secretary for the IT Ministry Sushil Pal at a G20 press conference today. It is unclear whether these MoUs fall under India's G20 efforts, or are independent of them. Pal did not specify when these MoUs would be finalised and signed. Chaired by India’s MoS for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the conference outlined the outcomes of the Digital Economy Working Group meetings this year. Chandrasekhar repeatedly claimed that there was major support among members for India’s push to export digital public infrastructure to developing countries left behind in the global digitisation race. India has currently signed 8 MoUs pledging support for DPI development, with Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Suriname, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Papua New Guinea, Armenia, and Sierra Leone. “Without the risk of being contradicted, I’ll say the interest levels [in DPI] are certainly double or triple [the eight countries that have signed MoUs],” Chandrasekhar claimed. “There are many more countries that want to engage on this, learn about these DPIs, transfer the technology [whether in] part or whole, [and] create the necessary systems and skills in their country than the eight. We’re taking baby steps for this, we don’t want to engage in the get go with 40 or 45 countries.” Chandrasekhar also clarified what kind of support the MoUs promise. “What we’re offering to these countries today is the technology itself, [that is] the pieces of the India DPI, [whether in] whole or part,” Chandrasekhar…
