New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS): India and Japan Thursday launched the first information and communication technology (ICT) public-private-partnership dialogue to strengthen collaboration between the two countries in the sector.

In a joint statement, Masahiro Yoshizaki, vice minister for policy coordination, ministry of internal affairs and communications, and Anil Kaushal, member of Telecom Commision of India, said they would put thrust in developing technology and standards, cyber security being a major cause for concern for every nation.

Yoshizaki said, "In India, we are in discussion for such ties."

He said India has shown interest in disaster mitigation through ICT tools and application of ICT in traffic management, which is used in Japan.

"But the country first needs to put the infrastructure in place to make this happen. To overcome these issues, cross-functional cooperation is required," he said.

N.K. Goyal, president, CMAI Association of India, said the industry hoped this partnership would help bring modern, rich ICT equipment from Japan. "Also we can offer low-cost GSM equipment, IT-based electronic equipment and cyber security to Japan."

CMAI Association is a platform for promotion of Indian IT and telecom sector.