India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has announced a milestone in its work on developing quantum-based communication: demonstrating secure communication between two DRDO labs through the use of quantum key distribution (QKD) technology. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence, the scheme also demonstrated the validation of detection of a third party trying to gain knowledge of the communication, as the DRDO managed to validate quantum-based security against eavesdropping for the deployed system at over 12 km range. It is expected that this work will serve to enable start-ups in the field of quantum information technologies; it will also be used to define standards and policies that can leverage QKD technology in a framework for more secure key management for current and future military cryptographic systems.