India sees silver lining in Google’s imminent exit from China

NEW DELHI - The imminent exit of IT giant Google from China, which has alleged the Chinese Government of hacking personal data of its clients and for enforcing censorship, could prove to be a boon for India.

India remains a preferred destination for the IT bigwigs and provides much more independence, incentives and privacy to the business to flourish.

Refusing to directly comment on Google's exit from China, Minister of State for Information Technology Sachin Pilot, said: "India is a country that has a very free, fair and transparent way of functioning. We are proud to have one of the most open-minded media. There is no censorship of any sort at all. I think everyone is free to add their views."

Pilot pointed: "In this country (there is) a sense of stability, our judiciary is very transparent in functioning. I think all these factors add up, not just large IT companies like Google, Microsoft and Internet-based companies, but a lot of corporations look at it when they have a long term view of a country."

India's phenomenal growth in the IT sector can also be gauged from the fact that last year alone India exported IT services worth 50 billion dollars and the sector has grown at the rate of more than 15 percent, despite economic slowdown.

Now, IT experts believe that with companies leaving China on ethical grounds, Indian IT industry is bound to grow.

As far as censorship is concerned, Pilot emphasized that India has a very strict cyber law, which ensures and respects the independence of the companies.

"The Indian government in last 15-years (has) only banned 20-22 websites in all and that also has been done only when there are certain contents or websites that really harm our national interests, our sovereignty or are bound to cause some public disorder," Pilot said.

"Only in the rare of the rarest case would the government decide to shutdown or censor a particular website, it is very far and few. We have a policy that is very fair, we have policy forbearance. We don't interfere in what the netizens do, or what a company want to say. It is a very free open society and we are very proud of that," he added.

India has recently amended it cyber laws and to ensure the safety of its cyberspace has an agency called CERT 24/7, which protects cyberspace from attacks and cyber terrorism and take effective steps in case attacks take place.

Another major advantage, which India has over China, is the young English speaking workforce therefore Indian IT sector and the government are keeping a close tab on the developments in China as it can directly benefit them. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)
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