India’s data policies, including localisation measures, the 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), the export of digital public infrastructure (DPI) and resistance to binding digital trade rules, are generally seen as protectionism or regulatory lag. This talk argues that these moves are better understood as data statecraft: the deliberate use of data governance to extend state control, build domestic capability and generate bargaining leverage abroad. Across India’s nascent data regime, control consistently trumps protection. Using ongoing research on India’s data protection framework and interviews with Indian digital economy experts, the talk shows how domestic political economy drives India’s external posture, from its positions in multilateral trade forums to its claim to speak for the Global South on digital rules. It then considers the implications for partners. For Canada, regulatory convergence with India is unlikely. The more realistic goal is managed interoperability: arrangements that allow data regimes to align without giving up sovereign control.
About the Speaker
Dr. Karthik Nachiappan is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore. His research examines how technology governance, economic security, and climate diplomacy shape India’s foreign policy and its partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. His recent work explores the tensions between national security and economic interdependence across digital governance, clean energy, and critical supply chains. He is the author of Does India Negotiate? (Oxford University Press, 2020) and is working on a book on India’s economic statecraft.
