Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted the Defence and Deputy Defence Ministers of 27 countries at the Defence Ministers’ Conclave held on the sidelines of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru on Tuesday, said a press release by Ministry of Defence.
The broad theme of the conclave was ‘Shared Prosperity through Enhanced Engagements in Defence’ (SPEED).
It sought to address aspects related to deepening cooperation for capacity building (through investments, R&D, joint ventures, co-development, co-production and provisioning of defence equipment), training, space, AI and maritime security to grow together.
In his inaugural address, the Defence Minister highlighted the need for greater cooperation in an increasingly complex global security scenario.
He stated that the theme of the event ‘SPEED’ characterises the present era wherein geopolitical and security realities are shifting at hitherto unwitnessed speed.
He called for real-time collaboration to respond to such fast-paced changes.
Singh was of the view that any major change in the domain of economy, security, health or climate has global reverberations and when peace and security of any region are threatened, the entire world feels its impact in multiple ways.
He pointed out that in an interconnected and networked world, the rapid transmission of shocks and disturbances makes it impossible to insulate one’s own country from the issues of other countries.
He emphasised regular interactions during summits, conferences and conclaves to ensure that the concerns of all are suitably addressed for a common, secure and prosperous future.
The Raksha Mantri reaffirmed India’s stand for a rules-based international order, in which “the primordial instinct of the might being right is replaced by the civilisational concept of fairness, cooperation, respect and equality amongst all sovereign nations”.
He asserted that untethered to any faction or alliance of one group of nations against another, India has worked ceaselessly for the upliftment of all nations, especially developing ones.
“India has always been open to new ideas from across the world, Commingling and contest of various thoughts has made us a global ideation centre. Our ancient ethos guides us to work not only towards cooperation for mutual benefit but goes a welcome step further from a merely transactional approach to an edifying recognition of all humanity as one family,” Defence Minister said.
He referred to the global efforts to deal with Covid-19 and said the pandemic underscored the point that shared global prosperity requires greater coordination among all nations in diverse areas, of which defence and security is one of the most important.
