Quad partners shift focus on strategies to save subsea cables from cyberattacks

Officials and industry leaders of the Quad member states gathered in New Delhi on Wednesday to explore strategies to expand India's subsea cable infrastructure and protect subsea cable systems from emerging threats such as cyberattacks and sabotage.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The Wavelength Forum, organised under the US state department's “CABLES” programme, focused on strengthening subsea cable connectivity and resilience across the Indo-Pacific region. The forum underscored India’s “growing importance as a digital hub”, according to the US embassy.

The forum also highlighted the critical role of subsea cables in supporting the global digital economy and the “importance of using trusted vendors for construction, maintenance, and repair”, the embassy said.

The Quad, which includes India, Australia, Japan and the US, decided at a meeting of foreign ministers of the grouping on July 1 that India and the US would host the undersea cables forum with participation from Quad partners to identify opportunities for digital infrastructure collaboration.