E-Paper
Greater civil-military jointness must to further strengthen nat’l security: Rajnath Singh
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said India is a peace-loving nation which does not want war. ”However, if anyone casts an evil eye on us, we will give a befitting reply”
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday called for greater jointness of civil administration and the armed forces to further strengthen national security and deal with future challenges that may emanate from the ever-evolving global situation.
Singh also underlined that the concept of national security has broadened over the years as many non-military dimensions have been added to the more general aspect of protection from military attacks. He described the Russia-Ukraine situation and other similar conflicts as proof that the world is witnessing challenges far beyond conventional warfare.
Rajnath Singh was addressing participants of the 28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), a programme started in 2001 on the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee that stressed a shared understanding of national security.
“War and peace are no longer two exclusive states, but a continuum. Even during peace, war continues on many fronts. A full-scale war is lethal to a country as much as it is for its enemies. Therefore, full-scale wars have been avoided in the last few decades. They have been replaced by proxies and non-combat wars. Technology, supply line, information, energy, trade system, finance system etc. are being weaponised, which can be used as a weapon against us in the coming times. People’s cooperation is needed to deal with this widened scope of security challenges,” he said.
“India is a peace-loving nation which does not want war. It has never attacked any country, nor has it captured an inch of anyone’s land. However, if anyone casts an evil eye on us, we will give a befitting reply,” Rajnath Singh said.
The Union defence minister asserted that the full-fledged process of civil-military jointness has been started by the Centre with the creation of a department of military affairs and the Chief of Defence Staff’s post. He also added that the steps taken to modernise the Armed Forces and make the defence sector “Aatmanirbhar” (self-reliant) have started to yield results.
“Now, India is not only manufacturing equipment for its Armed Forces, but is meeting the needs of friendly countries as well, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World,’ ” he said.
