By DPA,
Brussels : NATO should extend its global reach by striking new partnerships with emerging countries such as China and India, the Western military alliance’s chief said Thursday.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s remarks came ahead of the November 19-20 Lisbon summit, where a new “strategic concept” – a document charting the alliance’s future mission – is set to be adopted.
“We should reach out to new and important partners, including China and India. We should encourage consultations between interested allies and partners on security issues of common concern, with NATO as a hub for those discussions,” Rasmussen said in a video post on his blog.
He stressed that the “pillars” upon which NATO was founded in 1949 – including the principle of collective defence, a powerful military capability and strong transatlantic relations – were “still fundamental”.
But he argued that the alliance also needed to look beyond its borders, as it had done in Afghanistan, where its military mission is supported by 19 non-NATO countries, in addition to the alliance’s 28 members.
“Defence of our territory and our citizens no longer begin at our borders. Threats can originate from Kandahar or from cyberspace … As a consequence, NATO must build more partnerships and engage more with the wider world,” Rasmussen pointed out.