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EAM's remarks at the release of India's National Security Annual Review 2010 April 19, 2011 Ambassador Rasgotra, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Foundation for National Security Research, I am very happy to have released a short while ago India's National Security Annual Review 2010, brought out by the Foundation for National Security Research. In the past decade or so, the Review has established its usefulness for those who wish to understand security challenges we face and the responses we need, evolve and implement. The Review brings to its readers valuable views of leading security experts. As I say this, ladies and gentlemen, I think I must pause to pay homage to one such leading expert, Mr K Subrahmanyam, commonly referred to as the doyen of the Indian strategic affairs community. His sterling contribution greatly helped our understanding of our national security challenges and shaped responses to many of them. He was and will be an inspiration to generations of strategic thinkers and security experts. The void created by his demise in February this year will be difficult to fill. I will personally miss his deep analysis and well-thought prescriptions. Ladies and Gentlemen, When I began my public life about five decades ago, the concept of security was more or less akin to military prowess. And then, I remember that about two decades later, when I participated in the UN First Committee as a Member of our Parliament, the thought was beginning to gain ground that the world will be a safer place with fewer weapons, including fewer weapons of mass destruction. development. However, in a matter of a few more years, in a geo-politically altered post-Cold War world, a host of new challenges to our individual and collective security - terrorism, environment, economic downturn, energy and cyber security - to name a few, had acquired a new and threatening enormity. These have today become central to the discourse on national security in a manner which a few decades ago was perhaps the sole domain of armed territorial aggression. In less than a lifetime, the imperatives of national security have changed radically. In case of our own country, immediate challenges before us at the time of Independence were defending our unity and territorial integrity, and generating enough in the economy to meet the needs of a growing population. In the course of about sixty five years, our country has emerged stronger through armed aggressions imposed on us. Our GDP has increased from low double digit in billion US Dollars to over a trillion US dollars. Even as the population has grown about four times, we produce more than four times food grain than we produced in 1950. And yet we have managed to relegate the share of agriculture in national economy. Hundreds of millions have been pulled out of poverty and illiteracy and the resultant death and disease. Sustained high growth since economic reforms and liberalization introduced in early 1990s has put India as the fourth largest economy in the world, behind EU, US, China and Japan, on Purchasing Power Parity. As a result of these historical achievements, which are underpinned by the strength of our democratic institutions, we are, in general, better prepared today to comprehend the security challenges we are faced with, and to respond to them effectively. At the same time, changes in the global security, geo-political and economic landscapes have entailed new challenges, which I just referred to. They have also introduced nuances in the more traditional ones. I am happy that INSAR 2010, which has just been released, provides deep analytical insights into them. Although making the distinction between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ challenges in today’s enormously interconnected world is meaningless beyond a point, yet, I think this is a useful categorization to understand the direction and the thrust of the effort to address them. I agree with Prof. Kumar that our biggest internal challenge is with regard to economic security of the country. In my view, the mantra to meet this challenge is ‘inclusive growth’. It is the surest way to address the threats posed by left wing extremism. Innovative public-private partnership will play an increasingly important role in meeting our socio-economic objectives. Our external environment is very different from what prevailed towards the end of the last century. The multipolarity of today’s world implies less of stability and predictability. In addition, there are: shift in the world’s economic centre of gravity away from the US and Europe, the global economic crisis, and competition among fast growing economies for resources to meet their developmental and economic challenges. Our foreign policy seeks to address challenges arising from beyond our borders so as to secure an enabling external environment for the pursuit of our national objective of development. While, it may not be possible for me to speak of each and every challenge or task in external policy domain, I would touch upon a few briefly. Terrorism is perhaps the single biggest challenge rooted in our external environment. It is an extremely complex challenge. India has been victim of cross-border terrorism for decades. After 26/11, we have, on one hand, sought to improve our counter-terrorism capabilities, and on the other reached out to the world in an unprecedented manner to stress the need for bringing to justice expeditiously all those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack. With Pakistan, we have pursued the path of dialogue to reduce the trust deficit and to resolve all outstanding issues in a spirit of openness and in the hope that we can build a better future for the peoples of both countries. At the same time, we have never abandoned our concerns about the need to eliminate cross-border terrorism. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan had a wide-ranging conversation when they met in Mohali to witness the cricket match between India and Pakistan. We won the match despite our traditions of being gracious hosts. he meeting of the two leaders once again reaffirmed our intention to take forward the process of dialogue through which we can resolve outstanding issues. As you would be aware, the Home Secretary of India and the Interior Secretary of Pakistan met last month and had a very positive round of discussions. The Commerce Secretaries of the two countries will meet this month in Islamabad. There will be a series of other meetings, leading to the meetings of Foreign Secretaries, and Foreign Ministers of the two countries. As the Prime Minister said recently, the aim of this process is normalization of relations with Pakistan. Hopefully, this normalization will take into account India’s vital concerns. On our part, we shall be always ready to address Pakistan’s concerns as long as the mechanism is dialogue. China is our largest neighbour and we have sought to structure our relationship with that country based on the principles of mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns and the need to peacefully resolve outstanding issues through painstaking negotiations. This is a path that we have pursued with careful deliberation, conscious always of the need to defend our security interests and to carefully monitor Chinese activities in our neighbourhood. Last week, Prime Minister had a very productive, warm and friendly meeting with President Hu Jintao on the margins of BRICS Summit at San Ya. Among the understandings reached is an agreement in principle on establishing a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs. This will handle important border affairs relating to maintaining peace and tranquility. We would hope that this mechanism would allow the two countries to take their relationship in a positive direction. India is engaged closely with and in global and regional cooperation structures, such as ASEAN, ARF, IBSA, G-20, SCO and EU. Last week's Summit of the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa –confirmed that these emerging countries have almost the same views on major issues that confront the world. Whether it is the question of establishing a more equitable and a fair world, or coordination of macroeconomic policies, BRICS has emerged as a major voice in the world. A seminal development of last year was India’s election to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member with a record 187 out of 190 votes. Our Membership provides us an opportunity to contribute to the decision making affecting peace and security in various regions of the world, including our own. This we are doing with a voice of reason and moderation, as would be clear from our active and constructive role in the Council’s deliberations, beginning with discussions on the UN Mission in Nepal in January, the Sudan referendum, the Ivory Coast situation, developments in Middle East, including Libya and the issue of piracy involving Somalia. India is also chairing two important committees, namely, the Counter-terrorism Committee, and the Committee concerning Somalia and Eritrea. As you would be aware, with over 8,700 personnel, India is the third largest contributor to UN Peace Keeping. This reflects our commitment to global security and peace, and also our faith in the words that peace and security are indivisible. India has to remain alert for responding to the developments in the Middle East and the Gulf, regions with which we have traditionally close ties. About 6 million Indians live and work there. The regions provide over two-thirds of our oil imports. Our effort is directed at ensuring safety of our nationals and securing our interests in the widest sense of the word. Ladies and Gentlemen, Before I conclude, I would like to briefly touch upon another area which has security dimensions. We see with great sorrow the death and devastation wrought by natural disaster, most recently in Japan. After the Tsunami of 2004, we took a number of steps to significantly enhance warning and disaster relief capabilities. A recent indication of the efficacy of these measures came in the form of the touching appreciation for our 48-strong National Disaster Response Force team, which carried out rescue and relief work in the worst affected Miyagi prefecture for over two weeks. However, no level of development is defence enough against the vagaries of nature. We must be prepared, to our best, and always. Ladies and Gentlemen, In our age and times, national security is not an esoteric pursuit indulged in by a few grey or white haired scholars peering through their thick glasses over thicker jargon and producing even thicker articles. The growing multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral understanding of our national security issues and responses will benefit further from introduction of security in more institutions of higher learning in the country. I am aware of the respect that our security scholars and research institutions command worldwide, and the camaraderie they enjoy with their international peers. I would advocate strengthening these institutional partnerships, and deepening the channels of communication between our strategic community and policy makers in the times to come. As for the future, I recall that the February 2010 issue of the Quadrennial Defence Review of the US Department of Defence has been quoted in INSAR 2010 as follows: "India has already established its worldwide military influence through counter piracy, peace keeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts. As its military capabilities grow, India will contribute to Asia as a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond." Unquote. The revised National Security Index, an analytical tool developed to understand where we stand on various security parameters, points to India emerging as the fourth most powerful nation of the world by 2025. I recollect what the captain of India’s World Cup winning cricket team said a few days ago about his team’s One Day International rankings: If we keep playing well, the rankings will take care of themselves. With these words, I thank the Foundation for National Security Research for giving me the honour to launch INSAR 2010. I would like to compliment its Editor Prof Satish Kumar, and all the distinguished contributors. The support to INSAR from National Security Council Secretariat, the Confederation of Indian Industries and the publishers has been for a worthy cause, and I hope, will continue. With the hope that the Review will contribute to wider debate and deeper understanding of a large number of issues that straddle the security horizon of our country, I thank you all for your attention. New Delhi |
