New Delhi, September 23, 2025: The Science Indigenous Technology & Advanced Research Accelerator (SITARA) and the Bharath Digital Infrastructure Association (BDIA) jointly organized a high-level dialogue at the India International Centre on the urgent need for a Digital Atmanirbharta programme. The session, chaired by Ambassador Ashok Kantha, came against the backdrop of new tariffs on Indian exports to the US and higher H1B visa fees.
Speakers included Dr. Sasmit Patra, MP; Shri Parminder Jeet Singh, Digital Affairs Expert; Shri Abhishek Bhatt, Founder & Secretary General, BDIA; Shri Ashish Sonal, AI & Security Specialist; and Amb. Smita Purushottam, Founder, SITARA. Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC, highlighted the importance of laws and incentives to spur private R&D and promote sovereign indigenous cloud services.
The dialogue emphasized that Digital Atmanirbharta could add USD 1 trillion annually to India’s economy, create employment, and bolster national security. Key recommendations included declaring data a national strategic asset, promoting sovereign cloud infrastructure, ensuring free trade agreements safeguard digital sovereignty, and strengthening AI-driven and network-centric military capabilities.
The deliberations also underscored risks of overreliance on foreign platforms, warning of vulnerabilities such as data exploitation and psychological warfare.
Concluding the session, SITARA and BDIA representatives said, “The Nayara-Microsoft episode was an eye opener; digital sovereignty is not a choice but a national imperative and our policies should be aligned towards creating the building blocks of our digital ecosystem—cloud, apps, and platforms—to ensure not just technological sovereignty but also National Security.”
The meeting closed with a unanimous call to prioritize a Digital Industrial Policy as the backbone of India’s digital sovereignty, economy, and national security.
