PM Modi calls for a global framework to tackle cyber fraud, deepfakes and digital crimes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the 10th edition of the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026 themed ‘Scale Without Borders’ in New Delhi. Photo Credit: @narendramodi/YT via PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (Oct 8, 2026) called for a global framework to tackle cyber fraud and deepfake, saying digital threats have crossed national borders and require coordinated action by all stakeholders.

Inaugurating the tenth edition of the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026, Mr Modi said governments, technology companies, telecom operators and financial institutions should create mechanisms to curb digital fraud.

“I call on the GSMA and telecom operators around the world: let’s, let’s create a global mechanism that can stop such scams before they reach the people. India has learned a lot from its experience in this regard and India is always ready to share its experience with the world,” Mr Modi said.

A technology can only reach scale if it gains people’s trust, he said.

A person sitting in one country with the help of a person in another country can commit a crime in a third country, Mr. Modi said, adding that deepfakes have become a big challenge.

Targeting 1 billion 5G users by 2030, Scindia says

India aims to double its 5G user base from 550 million to one billion by 2030, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday (Oct 8, 2026), adding that the country that has lagged behind the world in 4G is determined to lead the world in 6G.

On 6G, Mr. Scindia said the Bharat 6G Alliance, involving 90 institutions, has generated 7,700 patents, of which 4,400 are international.

“We were behind the world on 4G. We were marching with the world on 5G. But it is our decision to lead the world on 6G,” he said.

The Minister said that the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Council has accepted India’s proposal to host the Plenipotentiary Conference in 2030.

He noted that ITU’s World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) was held in India for the first time in 2024 and described it as the largest WTSA held outside Geneva in the history of ITU.

Mr. Scindia, who has tracked India’s telecom journey since the first IMC in September 2017, said the number of broadband customers has grown from 60 million to more than 1.1 billion. The country now has 1.35 billion mobile customers.

The cost of 1GB of data has come down from ₹268 in 2014 to ₹8 now, which he described as the cheapest in the world, he said.

Talking about digital public infrastructure, he said that UPI accounts for 84% of digital transactions in India and 49% of the world’s digital transactions take place in India.

UPI processes 260 billion transactions annually worth $3.4 trillion and the technology has been taken to 11 other countries, he said.

The minister said the government’s $15 billion BharatNet program will provide middle-mile connectivity to nearly 2.6 lakh gram panchayats.

It will also provide on-demand connectivity to the remaining 3.8 lakh villages with 100 Mbps connectivity to every household as per citizens’ demands.

In terms of manufacturing, he said the mobile phone industry was worth about $2 billion to $3 billion in 2014 and is now a $63 billion industry.

India is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of mobile phones, with exports close to $29 billion

Published – 8 Oct 2026 12:16 PM IST