By IANS
Singapore : No single forum can ensure global security, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Saturday, adding India was ready to play a key role as part of "a pluralistic security order" for a better world.
"India is ready to play its role in the shaping of this new approach to collective security," Antony told delegates from 26 countries at the sixth Asia Security Conference, better known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, here Saturday.
"Only a pluralistic security order working through a network of cooperative structures can have the legitimacy as well as the wherewithal to deal with the security challenges of the 21st century," he said at the Dialogue's second plenary session on 'China and India: Building International Stability'.
According to Antony, it was not merely the structure of the international system that was changing rapidly but the challenges too were evolving very fast.
"When it comes to natural disasters, pandemics, illegal trafficking in goods or people or environmental problems, traditional analysis based on national rivalries must give way to more forward looking approaches of cooperative solutions.
"It will require major states, in particular, to be less tactical in their approaches to the key challenges of our times. This will also require that no single forum perhaps assume responsibility for international security related issues," Antony said.
According to him, the pluralism that sustained Indian society "can be a major contribution to a more stable and diverse international order.
"Regionally, our security interests are met by a peaceful and developing periphery. This is the aim of our current intensifying engagement with countries in South Asia, South East Asia, West Asia and Central Asia.
"Given the challenges to peace and long term stability in these regions, this also contributes to international stability," the minister maintained.
Globally, India was "contributing actively as a responsible partner" to the search for solutions to security dilemmas connected with terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and other non-traditional security threats, Antony stated.
"Our longstanding credentials as a good global citizen will only be further reinforced by the growing stakes that we have developed in the world economy," he said, adding India's ties with the major powers – the US, Russia, China, the European Union and Japan besides the emerging powers of Latin America and Africa were on a path of rapid expansion.
"This, in itself, is a positive development for international security and stability in a rapidly changing world characterized by multivalence, interdependence and political cooperation among the major powers," he added.
At the same time, India's rise had given "no cause for any apprehension" with regard to regional or international stability.
"On the contrary, this is seen as contributing to the development of a more stable world order."
Thus, India's security priority "has to be a vigorous and active participation in shaping global developments", including through strong equations with key players – the US, Russia, the EU, China and Japan and regions such as Southeast Asia, the Gulf and the Middle East.
Toward this end, the recent Indian Navy exercises with Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, the US, Russia and China "reflect the expansion of our vision as much as our capabilities", the minister contended.
"The point I wish to emphasise is that an effective management of India's internal security at a time of rapid modernisation is itself a key contribution to international stability.
"When one sixth of the world demonstrates an ability to meet its wants, manage its expectations and govern itself effectively, the significance of that achievement cannot be overvalued."
At the same time, India still had unresolved border issues and "for more than two decades had to respond to the challenge of cross-border terrorism and proliferation of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons in its neighbourhood.
"Our next security priority, therefore, has to be ensuring peace and stability on India's borders and in the regions with which we have increasing interaction – the Gulf, Central Asia, the Indian Ocean region, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
"This entails maintaining an adequate level of defence preparedness to keep the probability of armed conflict low and to respond to situations such as the 2004 tsunami."
Pointing to India's initiatives to put ties with its immediate neighbours on a "much better footing," Antony said: "Our relations with China have undergone a significant improvement."
With Pakistan, the composite dialogue "has changed the climate of our ties for the better. With regard to bridging our differences, including on Jammu and Kashmir, we know what has not worked in the past.
"The challenge is to devise more imaginative approaches. To do that, it is imperative that Pakistan delivers on its commitment not to permit any territory under its control to be utilised to support terrorism in any manner.
"I cannot emphasise enough India's stakes in the emergence of a stable and moderate Pakistan, at peace with itself as much as with its neighbours."