India for multi-stakeholder approach to govern Internet

NEW DELHI: India has proposed that Internet should be managed through multi-stakeholder approach and the governments should have "supreme right and control" on matters relating to international security.

A committee on Internet governance has favoured the approach and decided that the country should try to collaborate with US on the matter, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.

"A committee on internet governance was formed under Chairmanship of Finance Minister ... has decided India should support a multi-stakeholder approach in matter of Internet governance," Prasad said.

Other members of the committee were Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Prasad.

"The committee has decided that India should try to have a special arrangement with the US to collaborate on matter of Internet governance for mutual interest," Prasad said.

The committee has decided that "on matter relating to national security, government will continue to have supreme right and control".

Prasad said that these decisions have been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ICANN, a non-profit organisation incorporated in California, currently coordinates, manages and implements worldwide Internet rules and policies by taking views of global community.

It has been assigned the task to manage Internet by the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under a contract, which expires on September 30.

NTIA has decided to step out of its role of ICANN overseer after the contract expires and it be managed by global community and work is in progress to set rules on who should manage Internet post September 30.

In the written comments to ICANN over transition of Internet management, India has said that the new proposal runs the risk of placing complete reliance on internal accountability mechanisms within ICANN as the principle of external accountability is absent from it.

India has favoured creation of a contract company which should be accountable to global stakeholders.