The India-U.K. FTA: A Compromise on India's Digital Sovereignty?
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Economy (Free Trade Agreements - FTAs, Digital Economy, Data Localisation), Science & Tech (Artificial Intelligence - AI, Source Code), Governance (Data Governance).
Mains:
GS Paper 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation; Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India.
GS Paper 3: Science and Technology- developments and their applications; Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers; Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth.
Key Highlights from the News
The article argues that India made significant concessions in the recently signed India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (India-U.K. FTA) concerning the digital sector, which could jeopardize the country's digital sovereignty.
Key concessions include:
Source code disclosure: India abandoned its sovereign right to demand the source code of foreign software for security audits. This goes against India's long-standing position at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Open Government Data: The agreement stipulates that India's government data should be made available to UK entities without discrimination. As data is an invaluable resource for developing AI, this could affect India's competitiveness and raise security concerns.
Data localisation: While India currently stands firm on this issue, it may have to grant similar considerations to the UK if it makes concessions to other countries in the future.
Rules in digital trade, once agreed upon, are difficult to change later.
The author states that sectors like agriculture and manufacturing had strong political support, leading to fewer concessions. However, digital sovereignty lacked such a political 'constituency,' resulting in major concessions in this area.
The article suggests that India urgently needs to formulate its own 'digital sovereignty policy' and include digital experts in trade negotiations.
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