Overview
- A joint statement following UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit said the two countries will explore establishing digital embassies under mutually recognised sovereignty arrangements.
- Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri described the concept as a safe harbour for data of national importance and said a regulatory framework will be developed, noting there are only a few global precedents.
- The initiative is part of wider tech cooperation that includes collaboration on artificial intelligence, a supercomputing cluster in India, and potential partnerships on data centres.
- Digital embassies are offshore, state-controlled data centres designed to ensure continuity of critical government services with protections akin to diplomatic immunity against host-country jurisdiction and physical or cyber threats.
- Policy and implementation work remains underway, with MeitY reported to be crafting enabling rules, GIFT City mentioned as a potential Indian site, and examples in Luxembourg hosting Estonia’s and Monaco’s data embassies providing precedents.