5G test bed-trial knockout during Assam Indo-Japan summit

New Delhi : With the postponement of scheduled Indo-Japan summit in Assam due to anti-CAA protests, the unintended consequence was the nixing of an announcement of 5G test-bed trials with special strategic partner Japan.

The Summit was scheduled to happen between December 14 and 17, but it was later postponed due to the protests and Tokyo's request. 

While the telecom ministry has already started testing the 5G technology, the Guwahati Summit was to showcase the 5G technology with both Prime Ministers using special visual glasses to scan the mighty Brahmaputra river, according to top officials.

The groundwork for the test-bed trials with Japanese collaboration was laid during a visit by Prof K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the government ,and India’s cybersecurity chief Lt Gen (Retd) Rajesh Pant, along with a senior ministry of external affairs official, to Tokyo in September.

According to schedule, the Japan will be showcasing its 5G technology during the July-August 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Although the telecom ministry has looked at the 5G technology purely from a commercial viewpoint by inviting all players, including Chinese giant Huawei, national security planners understand the leverage and long-term impact of this future technology.

"First of all we must ensure very strict integrity pact with India’s global 5G partner with provision of heavy penalties being levied on the main supplier even if its ancillary units open the back door. Secondly, India must use 5G technology to diplomatically and commercially leverage a deal with the supplier country. We should be able to answer the question on what is in it for India," said a senior official. India has already noted that western countries led by US have barred Huawei because of doubts over long-term data integrity.