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Background

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Cyber slavery and online trafficking have become alarming challenges in Southeast Asia. Against this backdrop, India successfully rescued 197 of its citizens from Mae Sot in Thailand on November 10, 2025, using two Indian Air Force flights. The evacuees had fled Myanmar’s Myawaddy region in October after intense military operations forced them to escape. This was India’s second rescue effort within a week, following the November 6 mission that brought back 270 nationals from similar conditions. The operations were coordinated by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and the Consulate in Chiang Mai, with crucial assistance from the Royal Thai Government.

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The Operation and Bilateral Cooperation

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The operation was carried out with the presence and supervision of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of Thailand and Indian Ambassador Nagesh Singh, who were both present at the ceremony in Mae Sot. This way, the two countries have not only proved but also cemented their bond to fight the crimes which were mentioned before and more than that, they have even promised to facilitate communication between their authorities. Prime Minister Charnvirakul thanked India for the quick intervention and added that Thailand would be giving the needed support for the repatriation of the other victims as well.

“Both parties reaffirmed their strong commitment to the fight against cross-border crimes, including cyber scams and human trafficking, in the region and to improving cooperation among the relevant agencies in both countries.”, Embassy of India, Bangkok.

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The Cyber Scam Network

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The Myawaddy area in Myanmar has made a quick shift to become a hotspot for the entire world of cybercrimes. Moreover, the crimes are especially committed by the organised criminal groups that take advantage of foreign nationals. After the Myanmar military imposed a restriction in late October, over 1,500 people from 28 nations moved to Thailand because of the KK Park cyber hub and other centres being raided.

A UN report (2025) indicated that this fraud activity is part of a larger network that extends the countries populated with very low-tech criminals who target the most naïve, and they are the very ones who end up being tortured. The trafficked persons often belong to the local population or come from neighbouring countries and are recruited with the promise of high salaries as IT or customer service agents, only to be imprisoned in a compound where they are forced to perform phishing, investment fraud, and cryptocurrency scams aimed at the victims all over the globe. These centres operate in border territories having poor governance, easy-to-cross borders, and little police presence, hence making human trafficking a major factor contributing to cybercrime.

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India’s Response and Preventive Measures

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The Indian Embassy in Thailand worked hand in hand with the Thai government to facilitate bringing back and repatriating the Indian citizens who had entered Thailand illegally when they were escaping Myanmar.

The embassy was far from helpless in the matter. In the case of the embassy's advisory, they suggested to the citizens that:

• It is mandatory to check the authenticity of the job offers and the agents before securing employment in other countries.
• Such employment by means of tourist or visa-free entry permits should be avoided, as such entries allow only for a short-duration visit or tourism.
• Be careful of ads claiming high pay for online or remote work in Southeast Asia.

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The embassy reiterated the Government of India’s commitment to ensuring easy access to assistance for citizens overseas and to addressing the growing intersection between cyber fraud and human trafficking.

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CyberPeace Analysis and Advisory

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The case of Myawaddy demonstrates that cybercrime and human trafficking have grappled to become a complicated global threat. The scam centres gradually come to depend on the trafficked labour of people who are being forced to commit the fraud digitally under coercion. This underlines the requirement for the cybersecurity measures that consider the rights of humans and the protection of the victims, not only the technical defence.

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1. Cybercrime–Human Trafficking Convergence: 

Cybercrime has moved up to the level of a human trafficking operation. The unwilling victims of such fraud schemes are scared for their very lives or even more, not of a reliable way out. This situation is such that one cannot tell where cyber exploitation ends and forced labour begins.

2. Cross-Border Enforcement Challenges:

To effectively carry out their unlawful acts, the criminals use legal and jurisdictional loopholes that are present across borders. Dismantling such networks requires the regional cooperation of India, Thailand, and ASEAN countries.

3. Socioeconomic Vulnerability:

The situation with unemployment being stagnant and the public not being educated about the situation makes people, especially the youth, very prone to scams of getting hired overseas. Thus, to prevent this uneducated flocking to the fraudsters, it is necessary to constantly implant in them the knowledge of online literacy and the importance of verification of job offers.

4. Public–Private Coordination: 

The scammers’ mode of operation usually includes online recruitment through social media and encrypted platforms where their victims can be found and contacted. In this regard, cooperation among government institutions, tech platforms, and civil society is imperative to put an end to the operation of these digital trafficking channels.

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CyberPeace Expert Advisory

To lessen the possibility of such incidents, CyberPeace suggests the following preventive and policy measures:

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Individuals:

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• Trust but verify: Before giving your approval to anything, always verify the job offer by official embassy websites or MEA-approved recruiting agencies first.
• Watch out for red flags: If a recruiter offers a very high salary for almost no work, asks for tourist visas, or gives no written contract, be very careful and pull out immediately.
• Protect your documents: Give a trusted person the responsibility of keeping both digital and physical copies of your passport and visa, and also register your travel with the MADAD portal.
• Report if in doubt: If an agent looks suspicious, contact the nearest Indian Embassy or Consulate or report it to cybercrime.gov.in or the 1930 Helpline.

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Policymakers and Agencies:

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• Strengthen Bilateral Task Forces: Set up armed forces of cyber and human trafficking enforcement units in South and Southeast Asian countries.
• Support Regional Awareness Campaigns: In addition to targeted advisories in local languages, the most vulnerable job seekers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities should also receive such awareness in their languages.
• Overseas Employment Advertising should be regulated: All digital job postings should be made to meet transparency standards and fraudulent recruitment should be punished with heavy fines.
• Invest in Digital Forensics and Intelligence Sharing: Create common databases for monitoring international cybercriminal groups.

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Conclusion

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The return of Indian citizens from Thailand represents a significant humanitarian and diplomatic milestone and highlights that cybercrime, though carried out through digital channels, remains deeply human in nature. International cooperation, well-informed citizens, and a rights-based cybersecurity approach are the minimum requirements for a global campaign against the new breed of cybercrime that is characterised by fraud and trafficking working hand in hand. CyberPeace reminds everyone that digital vigilance, verification, and collaboration across borders are the most effective ways to prevent online abuse and such crimes.

Reference

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• https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/197-indians-repatriated-from-thailand-by-special-indian-air-force-flights-9611934
• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-airlifts-citizens-who-worked-in-myanmar-cybercrime-hub-from-thailand/article70264322.ece
• https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/03-List-4-2024.pdf

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to grow in importance in today’s world not just as technological advancement but also becoming the backbone of economic growth, national security, scientific research, and digital governance. However, AI innovations of such a sophisticated kind require significant computing power that is currently only within the reach of a few countries. Against this backdrop, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken a significant step by partnering to build one of India's most powerful AI supercomputing infrastructures. What began as a discussion about digital infrastructure under the ambit of the new found India-UAE tech relationship, has come to a stage that is likely to usher in new AI-centric developments in the country, while bolstering the partnership between India and UAE.

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From Vision to Concrete Action

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This collaboration stemmed from the strengthening relationship between India and the UAE. The goal is to focus more on digital cooperation after the 2023 G20 Summit held in India. During this period, Artificial Intelligence, digital public infrastructure, and strong digital ecosystems became key topics of discussion between the two countries. This partnership received formal recognition with the India-UAE Digital Infrastructure Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2024. This agreement identified Artificial Intelligence, high-performance computing (HPC), cloud infrastructure, and digital innovation as priority areas for cooperation.

The initiative has now moved from policy talks to actual implementation. In February 2026, the UAE announced plans to deploy an 8-exaflop AI Super Computing Cluster in partnership between CDAC and in May 2026, when our Hon’ble Prime Minister visited UAE, both governments formalized the commercial framework for establishing the system, marking one of the largest AI infrastructure collaborations between the two countries. It was one the significant agendas discussed between the two countries among others.

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What Does the Agreement Include?

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The agreement between the countries is for the deployment of ‘Condor Galaxy India supercomputer’, which is an AI supercomputing cluster designed specifically for complex and advanced artificial intelligence workloads. Some of the major points of agreement include:

• Deployment of an 8 Exaflop Super Computing Cluster, meaning it can perform up to eight quintillion (8 × 10¹⁸) AI-related calculations per second. This would place it among the world's most powerful AI supercomputing systems.
• This project will be implemented by G42, which is an Abu Dhabi-based AI technology company, in partnership with India's Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• The computing infrastructure will utilise 64 Cerebras CS-3 AI systems, built using wafer-scale processor technology designed for large AI models.
• G42 and C-DAC will jointly oversee installation, deployment, operation, and maintenance of the infrastructure.
• The supercomputer will support India's IndiaAI Mission, strengthening domestic AI research and innovation. It is also a step in the direction of India’ AI mission through mindful collaboration.
• Notably, the system will be physically located within India and operate under Indian governance frameworks and laws ensuring that sensitive datasets remain under India’s  jurisdiction.

While beyond the infrastructure, the partnership also aims for research efforts within fields like healthcare & genomics, climate change modeling & optimization of energy, geointelligence, research studies & government usages, as well as growing startups in AI. It is hoped that the computing infrastructure will be made accessible to researchers, academic bodies, government organizations & startups from both nations to foster collaborative research.

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How Are India and the UAE Collaborating?

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The partnership involves more than simply sharing the hardware, the two countries are entering into a multiyear technology partnership where each brings different but complementary expertise. On one hand India offers the knowledge and experience of C-DAC, a large number of AI engineers, startups, academics and researchers, and the IndiaAI Mission, a framework to enable access to the advanced computing infrastructure needed to use these researchers. 

In return, the UAE offers investment in AI infrastructure and expertise in global AI cloud infrastructure, and sovereign AI platform development, from AI cloud infrastructure company G42, a company that has deployed large AI computing clusters as part of the Condor Galaxy network.  Among the biggest names involved in the new initiative is also Cerebras Systems, the artificial intelligence (AI) computing company that will supply the AI chips for the supercomputer.  The leading designer of AI compute technology, Cerebras develops the world's fastest AI hardware. In particular, the flagship Wafer Scale Engine (WSE-3), a revolutionary single chip that is the largest AI processor in the world, offers significant gains in speed and computational efficiency. This partnership will spur a joint R&D effort. That allows both India and the UAE to harness their respective knowledge and resources to accelerate better results for all stakeholders in various domains.

This collaboration will enable joint research and development (R&D), allowing both countries to combine their expertise and resources to produce more effective outcomes that are mutually beneficial across multiple sectors.

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Cyber and Digital Security Benefits

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From a cybersecurity perspective, this partnership is particularly significant.

• Moving towards AI Sovereignty

Possessing the infrastructure within India can ensure that sensitive government, healthcare, research, and enterprise data remains within Indian jurisdiction. This will reduce dependence on foreign cloud infrastructure while improving regulatory control over sensitive and critical datasets.

• Modernising Cyber Defence

Having a high-performance computing system will improve our cyber defence through AI-based threat detection, malware flagging, vulnerability assessment and cyber testing of safeguarding critical infrastructure. These are necessary in current times considering the growing capabilities and mode of cyber attacks. 

• Secure AI Development

Countries worldwide are moving toward "Sovereign AI" which is a goal of developing AI systems within nationally governed infrastructure to protect sensitive information. The India-UAE partnership directly supports this objective by combining national governance and world-class computing capability development.

• Economic Benefits for India

The project offers several long-term economic advantages. First, easing the entry barrier for startups and researchers in India as they are often reliant on expensive overseas cloud computing services. Second, enabling availability of more computing power that can accelerate innovation across sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, fintech, education, and logistics. Third, stronger AI computing infrastructure could foster the inflow of global capital into India’s tech ecosystem by provisioning requisite resources to run frontier AI computations. Finally, the initiative supports India's ambition of becoming a global AI innovation hub under the IndiaAI Mission by enabling domestic development of advanced AI models rather than relying solely on imported technologies that will in long-term make India a sought out destination as an AI-hub.

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Why the UAE Benefits?

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In the case of the UAE, the partnership further helps Abu Dhabi's vision to become a global leader in artificial intelligence by extending the reach of G42's AI capabilities internationally, while strengthening ties with one of the world’s leading digital economies as a trusted strategic technology partner. In harnessing India's extensive talent base, research communities, and growing AI capabilities, the UAE unlocks opportunities for scale and innovation, while also cementing its status as a dependable technological enabler across emerging economies. The project is a part of the UAE’s long-standing agenda to move away from hydrocarbons and towards growth in areas such as AI, digital infrastructure, and technologies of the future.

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Conclusion

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The India-UAE supercomputer collaboration is a step in the direction of being self-dependent in terms of having a strong computing infrastructure base in India. This also changes the outlook of  international technology partnerships  from traditional trade relationships to collaborations focused on AI, digital infrastructure, research, and strategic innovation. AI is becoming a defining factor in economic competitiveness and national resilience on a global scale and the access to sovereign computing infrastructure will increasingly shape our influence in world markets. By uniting UAE’s investment capacity and AI infrastructure expertise and India’s advantages. If successfully implemented, the collaboration could serve as a model of what cooperation toward sovereign and trusted AI can entail.

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REFERENCES

•  https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2006207&reg=48&lang=2 
•  https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2261385&reg=48&lang=1 
•  https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2261393&reg=48&lang=1

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Introduction

The increase in consumer demands has resulted in a sharp increase in digital financing in India. As a result, the reputation of the digital lending sector has been impacted, as bad actors increasingly deploy illicit lending platforms such as fraudulent loans and trading apps. As millions of Indians download fast loan applications to help them meet their financial ends, the fraudulent apps result in cyber crimes including financial fraud. Consumers need to be vigilant of dubious trading or loan applications as bad actors frequently use illegitimate apps to trick victims by advertising limited-period offers and applying pressure.

Recently the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) led handel CyberDost has issued a cybercrime alert against the ‘CashExpand-U’ finance assistant app, which has been now removed from the Google Play Store. The app was found to be associated with hostile foreign entities, and the app had made it easier to raise small loans. However, such loan apps are seldom credible and may compromise financial information. 

Raising cases of Fraudulent Loan Apps

The finance minister had stated that the government is constantly engaged with the Reserve Bank of India and other regulators and stakeholders to control fraudulent loan apps. In FY23, there were 1,062 complaints against such apps, the Finance Minister shared during a Lok Sabha session. Google removed almost 134 fake apps from the Play Store in a single week in September 2023 after multiple complaints were registered against such apps. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had also issued regulatory guidelines on digital lending in April 2023 to bring transparency in the digital loan space. 

CyberPeace Policy Wing Advisory for Users

1. Be cautious of App Permissions 

Fake lending apps collect data by fraudulently taking numerous app permissions from consumers and misusing them later. The users must effectively manage their app permissions to avoid denying any extra permissions such as access to contacts, location, and photos. This is because fraudulent digital lenders access users' personal data to extort additional money even after loan repayment.

2. Practice Due Diligence 

Consumers must exercise care & caution before applying for a loan from digital lending platforms.  Before applying for a loan or downloading any such apps, consumers must conduct due diligence by verifying the app's name, rating, reviews, physical address, and contact information. Always double-verify the paperwork before signing any agreement or contract. Always apply for loans from RBI-approved and compliant banking and financial services providers.

3. Download from Official Sources 

To avoid downloading counterfeit apps, only download lending apps from official stores like Google Play Store or Apple App Store, and avoid downloading apps from web links sent via SMS, email, or social media, even if shared by your known persons.

4. Be sceptical of too-good-to-be-true offerings

Be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true, like hassle-free easy loans as they can be fraudulent. If an offer seems too good to be true, it might be a red flag. Hence always conduct your own research to verify the lender and avoid making hasty decisions.

5. Reporting Mechanism

In case of facing a scam by such fraudulent apps, victims can file a complaint with the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ or Cyber Crime Helpline ‘1930’, or they can also contact us at CyberPeace Helpline +919570000066 and helpline@cyberpeace.net to get assistance in reporting their cases. 

Final Words

Illegitimate loan/trading apps have been raising concerns by defrauding innocent consumers who seek financial assistance. The Center has recently warned against the CashExpand-U app, which has been now removed from the Google Play Store. Users are advised to exercise due care and caution while downloading loan apps and applying for loans to prevent any potential scams. keep up to date with news from concerned authorities about common scams and fraudulent practices in the lending space and stay safe in the online world.

References:

• https://www.livemint.com/news/beware-govt-issues-cybercrime-alert-against-loan-app-cashexpand-u-finance-assistant-11720338996430.html
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/government-has-issued-an-important-warning-for-this-loan-app/articleshow/111541577.cms

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