Smt. Swaraj expressed concern about the political and social impact of programmes telecast on broadcasting services, which are carried on signals crossing international boundaries. The contact of these programmes may be at variance with the ethos existing in the recipient contrries and this could possibly cause an erosion in the social, culture and moral values and traditions of our societies. Further, she said, for developing countries, the focus of the content should not remain purely commercial and market driven entertainment.

    Smt. Swaraj called for pooling of resources and to act together in order to blunt the digital divide. She said only those societies would grow and prosper that are endowed with the ability and capacity to generate and capture new knowledge, data, communications and best practices. Poor nations would be those which do not have these assets. At the same time Smt. Swaraj cautioned about the implications of these new technologies in this age of convergence. She listed the problems of regulating the Internet and broadcasting media from across the globe.

    The Indian I&B Minister said that in times to come, the right to receive and impart information regardless of frontiers will be guaranteed not by the goodwill of Governments but by the compulsion of technology. "We need to address the whole range of issues arising in the context of this complex multi-media scenario," she said.

    Smt. Swaraj said that the convergence of technology will necessitate digitization of signals whether they carry sound, data or pictures and create new modes of information handling and make information appliances multi-functional. In this context, Smt. Swaraj said India is preparing for the convergence era in a big way and a Communication Convergence Bill has been introduced in the Parliament to promote, facilitate and develop in orderly manner the carriage and content of all forms of communications.

    The Minister offered to share India’s knowledge and experiences in the field of information technology in the journey towards setting-up of knowledge based society in the future. Since technology is a tool and not just a reward for growth and development, Smt. Swaraj called for joining of hands in "empowering our people for uninhibited use of technology for the benefit of the mankind. Benefits of the new technology must reach those who need them the most and this will be our ultimate yardstick of success".

    Referring to the free flow of information, Smt. Swaraj said that the Freedom of Speech and Expression is enshrined in Indian Constitution and over the years we have come to realize that in our democratic polity, media plays a vital role in influencing public opinion. The role of media in the Indian society is typically characterized by three main features – its huge spread, private ownership and editorial autonomy. India has 52000 registered newspapers, 97 percent radio coverage, over 120 TV channels telecasting in different languages, 270 million TV homes reached terrestrially and another 39 million homes through satellite and cable network. India produces over 800 films annually which provide employment to about 5 million people and films export doubling each year. She offered to share the huge reservoir of knowledge, skilled manpower, training facilities and engineering hardware with the friends in the SAARC region. Specific areas of cooperation could be identified and a plan of action drawn-up for implementation, Smt. Swaraj concluded.