Panaji, Mar 5 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Indian Navy has ensured that no country with its overwhelming economic and military power can suppress India’s friendly countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Due to the Navy’s readiness, India is fulfilling its responsibility very well and providing full help to allied countries in the Indian Ocean, he said.
“We have ensured that there is no kind of hegemony in the Indian Ocean,” Singh said addressing a gathering after inaugurating a new administrative building of the Naval War College near Goa capital Panaji.
On the occasion, he also virtually unveiled an aircraft carrier pier and auxiliary vessel pier at the Sea Bird naval base at Karwar in neighbouring Karnataka.
“Our Navy ensures that no country, with its overwhelming economic and military power, can suppress our friendly countries or crush their sovereignty in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
“The readiness with which the Indian Navy stands with our allies provides substantive strength to India’s global values,” he added.
Due to the Navy’s readiness, India is fulfilling its responsibility very well and providing full help to allied countries in the Indian Ocean.
“Our Navy’s presence in the Indian Ocean prevents the rest of our allies there from coming under any pressure,” Singh said.
The defence minster further said that rule-based maritime order has been strengthened in the Indian Ocean Region.
India is ensuring that the autonomy and sovereignty of neighbouring countries in the Indian Ocean Region is safeguarded, he said.
“We have ensured that there is no kind of hegemony in the Indian Ocean,” he said.
Singh said India’s rise is not only in the interest of 140 crore citizens, but it is also presenting the unique value of taking the whole world together through the mantra of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – that if India progresses, then only areas around it will progress.
Today, the Indian Navy is continuously becoming stronger. “Our naval industrial base is getting stronger. Our shipyards are expanding. Our aircraft carriers are increasing,” the minister said.
“This growing power of India is not to achieve dominance in the Indian Ocean but to create an environment of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added. PTI RPS GK
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