Delhi, Nov 5: “Pakistan continues to remain adamant in the use of terrorism as state policy. However, we have achieved substantial success in working with progressive and like-minded countries to not only expose Pakistan’s regressive policies but also make it increasingly difficult to continue with its previous business as usual approach,” said Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, while inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the National Defence College.
Singh delivered a key note address while declaring open of a two-day Webinar with the theme ‘India’s National Security- a Decade Ahead’.
Singh said peace can only be ensured through the ability to deter war.
“Perhaps the most fundamental lesson that the roller coaster of the rise and fall of nations taught us was that peace cannot necessarily be achieved by a desire for peace but by the ability to deter war”, he said.
He outlined four broad principles that are likely to guide India’s quest for national security in the future. “The first is the ability to secure India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty from external threats and internal challenges. Second, the ability to create secure and stable conditions that can facilitate India’s economic growth, thereby, creating the resources for nation building and to meet individual aspirations. Third, we remain steadfast in the desire to protect our interests beyond the borders in areas where our people reside and our security interests converge. And finally, we also believe that in a globalised and interconnected world, a country’s security interests are interlinked by shared and secure commons.”
Singh also emphasised that India has proved that countries that employ terrorism as an instrument of national policy can also be deterred through options that were considered un-implementable in the past.
He informed that one of the most important elements of India’s foreign and security policy is characterised by the “Neighbourhood First” initiative.
“Right from 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invested substantial personal capital to ensure that this relationship was built and reinforced to create a positive and progressive partnership”, he added.
Raksha Mantri further said Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi took special interest in reaching out to our partner countries in West Asia, South East and East Asia. “It is a result of this initiative that we have enhanced the scope and quality of our relations with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman in the West and with Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea in the East. I see this trend further being enhanced over the next decade.”
