Indias digital transformation rooted in open, secure, inclusive Internet: IT Secy Krishnan

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) India believes in an open, resilient and inclusive internet, IT Secretary S Krishnan on Thursday said, stressing that the internet is a core part of network infrastructure and that it is in everyone's interest to ensure it functions effectively without causing significant harm.

Krishnan said India is committed to the multistakeholder model of Internet governance and advancing policy frameworks that support innovation, inclusion, and trust in the global Internet ecosystem, and that hosting the upcoming 'ICANN85' underlines that position.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) -- the global internet governance body -- will convene its 85th public meeting in Mumbai from March 7-12, hosted by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

With more than one billion Internet users and a thriving digital economy, India is an ideal location for global participants to gather at the ICANN85 Community Forum to advance the technical work that ensures the secure and stable operation of the internet, according to officials.

"India is interested in an open, resilient and inclusive internet. There was a time when the internet was left largely unregulated and allowed to grow because it was the key intent at that time to get more users. But now it has grown substantially," Krishnan said.

The internet has become a core part of the network infrastructure, Krishnan said, adding that "therefore, it is in everybody's interest to see it works effectively and does not cause significant harm, and so it is essential to preserve the resilience of the internet".

The IT Ministry has encouraged more and more organisations, especially official entities, banks and others to move to adopting 'dot in' extension name, he said.

"This has been a conscious attempt that we have been pushing, and the fundamental reason is that we want to build trust in Indian domains, and we will build that trust by having a more robust KYC regime for these domains," he added.

About 3.85 million 'dot in' domain names have been issued, and more will be granted.

According to an official release, ICANN85 takes place at a crucial moment just before the launch of the next application round for the New gTLD Program (the next expansion of the Domain Name System) in April.

The programme provides businesses, communities, governments, and other organisations with the rare opportunity to apply for new top-level domains tuned to fit their organisation, community, culture, language, and customer interests.

"The meeting will include important updates about the next round and how to apply," the release said.

The New gTLD Program helps to advance ICANN's 2030 vision as the trusted steward of the Internet's unique identifier systems to strengthen the single, globally interoperable Internet for all.

This multilingual Internet enables people globally to use the net in their own languages and scripts, which matches the Indian government's approach.

ICANN85 is the first ICANN Public Meeting since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the WSIS 20 Outcomes Document in December 2025.

The World Summit on the Information Society: 20-year review (WSIS 20) reaffirmed that the Internet is a shared global resource whose stability, openness, and interoperability depend on the multistakeholder model approach, a position strongly supported by ICANN and the Government of India, the release added.

"Ten years after the ICANN Public Meeting in Hyderabad, the ICANN85 Community Forum in Mumbai offers the Indian Internet community an excellent opportunity to attend and participate in the global dialogue on important Internet governance issues," said Samiran Gupta, ICANN Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement and Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region.