New Delhi/Panaji, Mar 5 (PTI) The Indian Navy is ensuring that no country with overwhelming economic and military power is able to assert dominance over other nations in the Indian Ocean region or threaten their sovereignty, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday in an oblique reference to China’s increasing military muscle-flexing.
In an address at an event in Goa, Singh also said India is ensuring that all the neighbouring countries of the Indian Ocean should be helped in protecting their autonomy and sovereignty.
“We have ensured that no one exercises hegemony in the region,” he said after inaugurating a new building at the Naval War College in Goa and virtually dedicating several infrastructure projects in Karnataka’s Karwar naval base.
The defence minister highlighted that due to the Indian Navy’s readiness, India is fulfilling its responsibility in the Indian Ocean Region by providing full assistance to the littoral countries.
He stated that the Navy is ensuring that no country, with its overwhelming economic and military power, is able to assert dominance over friendly countries or threaten their sovereignty.
The readiness with which the Navy stands with the country’s allies provides substantive strength to India’s global values, he said.
“India is ensuring that all the neighbouring countries of the Indian Ocean should be helped in protecting their autonomy and sovereignty. We have ensured that no one exercises hegemony in the region,” he said.
In his remarks, Singh also spoke about the shift in dealing with the threat perception under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
“Earlier, almost all the governments focused on strengthening land borders, but maritime threats were not given as much importance,” he said.
“In view of the increased movement of our adversaries in the Indian Ocean Region and the commercial importance of the region, it was necessary to re-assess our threat perception and accordingly re-balance our military resources and strategic attention,” he said.
“Under the prime minister’s guidance, we not only re-imagined India’s role in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), but also strengthened it. Due to these efforts, India has today emerged as the first responder and preferred security partner in the IOR,” he said.
Underlining the growing prowess of the Indian Navy on the back of a strong naval industrial base, Singh emphasised that the idea is not to achieve dominance, but to create an environment of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
“The increasing naval power not only protects us from our adversaries, but also provides an environment of security to other stakeholders in the Indian Ocean,” he said.
The defence minister reiterated India’s commitment to work towards strengthening the economic and security co-operation with its maritime neighbours, in line with the Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision of Modi.
He commended the Navy for fulfilling this commitment, adding that India’s stature at the global level will increase if the Navy becomes stronger.
Underscoring the transformative strategic thinking of ‘New India’, Singh asserted that “we were once known as a ‘landlocked country ‘with sea shores’, but now we can be seen as an ‘island country with land borders'”.
He stated that the resources and opportunities available in this region will be the factors of India’s prosperity, which makes the Indian Navy’s role even more important in the future.
Singh added that most of the goods trade takes place through the sea route, with the Indo-Pacific region emerging as its hub.
He highlighted that due to the increasing goods trade, many threats such as incidents of piracy and trafficking have come to the fore.
Singh praised the Navy for strengthening the security environment in the region and generating goodwill for India on the global canvas its through its anti-piracy and anti-trafficking operations.
He stated that while these incidents have been reduced due to the promptness of the Indian Navy, the threats cannot be ignored.
The defence minister referred to the recent attacks on the undersea cables, terming such incidents as a direct attack on strategic interests.
He urged the Navy to remain prepared to deal with such challenges. PTI MPB ZMN
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