Subsea Cables, Trusted Networks, and India's Strategic Opportunity

In this episode of Interpreting India, Charukeshi Bhatt speaks with Pooja Bhatt, associate professor, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal University, on a piece of infrastructure that is easy to overlook and very difficult to protect: subsea cables. Stretching over 1.5 million kilometres across ocean floors and carrying nearly 99% of global data traffic, these cables underpin everything from financial systems and cloud infrastructure to the everyday digital services that billions of people rely on. For India, a fast-growing digital economy with expanding data center ambitions, getting this right is not optional. Why subsea cables remain far superior to satellites for global data transfer, and what India's current footprint in the global cable network actually looks like? How do cable consortia work in practice, and what are the tensions that arise when private companies and sovereign governments have very different priorities? How real is the threat from China's rapidly expanding footprint in the global cable network, and what does the debate around trusted networks mean in practice? What has the Quad delivered on cable connectivity and resilience, and what should India's next steps be domestically and regionally?