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High Commission of India
Colombo
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PRESS RELEASE
HIGH COMMISSIONER OF INDIA ADDRESSES SRI LANKAN
DEFENCE SERVICES COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE
On an invitation extended by the Ministry of Defence and
Urban Development, Government of Sri Lanka, H.E. Ashok K Kantha, High
Commissioner of India, addressed the students and faculty of Defence
Services Command and Staff College on the theme "India´s Foreign and
Defence Policies" on 22 November 2012. The High Commissioner was
cordially welcomed by Major General JC Rambukpotha, Commandant Defence
Services Command and Staff College on arrival.
2. In his address, the High Commissioner touched upon India´s unique
geographical location and key global and regional developments influencing
India´s security environment and highlighted that India´s unique
geographical position, maritime as well as continental entity, with its
footprints and interests reaching well beyond South Asia and positioned as
a bridge between different parts of Asia such as West Asia, Central Asia,
East Asia etc. formed the key determinants of the India´s defence policies.
3. He underlined the transformation of global and regional balance of
power, in which the risk of direct conflict between major states has
markedly receded, transnational challenges like terrorism, proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, energy security, climate change and the
prolonged economic crisis have become the primary threats to global peace
and stability. He emphasized the need for a collective global response to
these challenges and especially the ones emanating from non-states actors,
failed or weakened States. He drew attention to international terrorism as
possibly the pre-eminent threat to global peace and security while pointing
out India´s own experience as a victim of cross border terrorism for over
two decades. He underlined the major risks associated with weapons of mass
destruction possibly falling into the hands of terrorists and non-state
actors and to the increased incidences of piracy, gun running and terrorism
in the Indian Ocean region.
4. The High Commissioner highlighted that India´s overriding foreign and
defence policy objective is to secure a peaceful and enabling international
environment, both in the neighbourhood and globally, so as to concentrate
on domestic priorities of nationhood and inclusive development while
ensuring independence and autonomy in India´s decision making. He
underlined that another vital objective is to protect and safeguard India´s
territorial integrity and sovereignty and to deal with non-traditional
threats to security which are increasingly becoming trans-national in
character. He also underlined India´s recognition that transnational
challenges can be addressed only through global efforts.
5. The High Commissioner drew attention to the fact that India has never
pursued aggressive or expansionist policies and India´s armed forces have
always been used to defend the motherland against external aggression.
India has never sent troops abroad except for UN peace keeping operations
or at the express specific request of the legitimate government of the
country concerned. India´s defence preparedness and credible deterrence
includes nuclear doctrine of credible minimum deterrence, which envisages
no first use of nuclear weapons, non-use against non-nuclear weapon states
and voluntary moratorium on further nuclear tests. He underlined that
India´s defence preparedness has not been at the cost of development and
India´s defence expenditure remains modest at around 2% of the GDP and in
per capita terms is among the lowest in the world.
6. The High Commissioner emphasized that a natural corollary of India´s
non-aligned foreign policy has been to enhance engagement with all the
major countries of the world, which has resulted in substantial
strengthening of our relationship with all the major countries and regions
of the world and India´s rapid economic and social transformation since
early 1990s has provided opportunities to meaningfully engage with the rest
of the world in an unprecedented manner. India, at the same time, has been
in the forefront of promoting South-South cooperation and continues to give
highest priority to closer political, economic and other ties with our
neighbours in South Asia and extended neighbourhood. He also referred to
India´s successful "Look East Policy" launched in 1990s which is
based on a cooperative paradigm of positive inter-connectedness of economic
and security interests. He noted that there is a growing appreciation of
India´s relevance and role in addressing cross-cutting global issues and
India today is today a net provider of security in domains ranging from
maritime security to UN Peace keeping operations and one of the engines
helping to pull global economy out of recession.
7. High Commissioner Kantha highlighted that India is Sri Lanka´s closest
neighbour and our bilateral relationship is extremely strong, anchored in
common civilization heritage, shared interests and interlinked destinies.
He underlined that India has consistently stood for a united, strong and
prosperous Sri Lanka and the defence cooperation between the two countries
encompasses a wide array of activities such as high level exchanges,
training, joint exercises and exchange of goodwill visits by Naval ships of
the two countries. In recent years, the relationship has been marked by
close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and
investment, cooperation in the fields of development, education, culture
and defence, as well as a broad understanding on major issues of
international interest.
8. High Commissioner´s address was followed by an interactive session in
which he responded to interesting questions raised by student officers. The
event concluded with the presentation of a memento to the High Commissioner
by the Commandant, Staff College.
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Colombo
23 November 2012
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