Friendly navies need to join hands to make the oceans safe for prosperity, says Rajnath Singh

Friendly navies need to join hands to make the oceans safe for prosperity, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Armed forces have many roles, but their main role is to foster and preserve peace, says the Defence Minister after inaugurating Indian Navy’s multilateral exercise MILAN. We are not in an era of war but in an era of diplomacy and dialogue, and MILAN is a step taken by the Indian Navy towards achieving it, he says. We prefer peace, but shall not shy away from threats, he adds.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the core theme of this year’s MILAN — Camaraderie, Cohesion and Collaboration — is very apt, as it is the need of the hour for the friendly navies to come together to mitigate all kinds of threats and see that the oceans are safe for prosperity.

Inaugurating the MILAN-2024 in Visakhapatnam on February 21 (Wednesday) at Samudrika auditorium of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Mr. Rajnath Singh defined the role of the armed forces.

“Armed forces have many roles. The forces can act as a deterrence, or can be used in conflict resolution. But the main role is to foster and preserve peace. The armed forces have the dual role of fighting a war as well as maintaining peace,” he said.

“Peace does not mean just absence of war or conflict, rather it has a much wider perspective,” he observed, adding that “negative peace is also peace, but here a dominant nation tries to impose peace with its military might. It is nothing but hegemony.”

“At the same time, cold peace is nothing but an interval between direct conflicts. So, we need to look at positive peace that goes beyond military conflict and deals with justice and cooperation,” Mr. Rajnath Singh said.

Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Defence Minister said, “We are not in an era of war but in an era of diplomacy and dialogue, and MILAN is a step taken by the Indian Navy towards achieving it.”

“MILAN is organised to create a bond across oceans and allow the friendly navies to learn, understand and cooperate with each other. We prefer peace, but shall not shy away from threats, and the Indian Navy, in collaboration with others, has of late been playing an important and proactive role in anti-piracy and anti-hijacking operations on the western seaboard,” he said.