India for global community to strive for peace collectively

Visakhapatnam: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday called upon the international community to collectively aspire for peace in this age of democratic and rules-based world order, where individual countries proactively collaborate for shared peace and prosperity.

He was addressing the formal opening ceremony of the 12th edition of the multi-nation exercise (MILAN) here.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar and a distinguished gathering of Ministers, Ambassadors, Chiefs of Navies and representatives of maritime forces from over 50 friendly countries were present on the occasion.

According to a PIB press release, sharing his insights on the concept of 'peace', the Defence Minister asserted that the absence of wars and conflicts is the most irreducible minimum element of peace.

He spoke of "negative peace" which, he said, often stems from dominance or hegemony, where one power imposes its will upon others. He said such peace, not backed by fairness and justice, is what physicists and economists call "unstable equilibrium."

Singh elaborated on what he called "cold peace" where parties do not kill each other in the open, but do their best to undermine one another. He described cold peace as merely an interval between direct conflicts.

The Minister was of the view that the concept of positive peace goes beyond the mere absence of direct military conflict and encompasses broader notions of security, justice, and cooperation.

"The positive peace is the shared peace of one and all, with the cooperation of one and all. There is no Indian peace or Australian peace or Japanese peace, rather it is the shared global peace. This sentiment was also eloquently set forth by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he said 'This is not an era of war. But it is one of dialogue and diplomacy'," he said.

Singh emphasised that the Armed Forces play a dual role -conduct wars as well as maintain peace and good order. "Historically, Navies and Armies were established and maintained with the primary objective of extending political power through military conquests. Our historical experience informs us that the Armed Forces also play a significant role in preserving peace. It is seen in concepts and practices such as deterrence, conflict prevention, peace-keeping, and also in various humanitarian assistance efforts especially during disasters," he said.

The Defence Minister stressed that in this evolution of the nature of the Armed Forces, international military exercises have emerged as crucial mechanisms for fostering friendship, understanding, cooperation, and military interoperability among friendly nations within the framework of a democratic world order.

He termed MILAN 2024 as one such attempt to build the much-needed fraternal bonds across the oceans and mountains.

In his address, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar stated that underpinned by Government of India's vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), MILAN encapsulates and rejuvenates the unrelenting spirit of 'Cohesion, Camaraderie and Collaboration.'

From five IOR navies in 1995 to 50 navies across the Indo-Pacific today

The Chief of the Naval Staff informed that the harbour phase, which is underway, has seen insightful discussions through Subject Matter Expert Exchanges and Table Top Exercises.

MILAN Village, a rendezvous of culture, tradition and cuisine of nations participating in the Multilateral Naval Exercise MILAN 2024, was also inaugurated by the Defence Minister.