As tension prevails between India and Pakistan after the abrogation of special status under Article 370 for Jammu & Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday India has never been an aggressor but it does not mean it will baulk at using its strength of defend itself.
He made this statement during a defence dialogue during his ongoing visit to South Korea and called for a collective international action to check perpetrators of terrorism.
He said world politics today is in a state of flux and this has aggravated global and regional challenges to international peace and security.
He added that new and emerging technologies have impacted the regional as well as global security environment.
Delivering a keynote address at the 'Seoul Defence Dialogue 2019' with the theme, 'Building Peace Together: Challenges and Vision,'
Singh said "of the numerous security challenges that the world is facing, the gravest is that of terrorism."
No country in the world is safe from terrorism and India has been actively pursuing counter terrorism cooperation bilaterally, regionally and globally through UN and other fora, he added.
"India has never been an aggressor in its history nor will it ever be. But that does not mean that India would
baulk at using its strength to defend itself," Singh said, in presence of South Korea's top military brass.
He arrived in Seoul on Wednesday on a three-day visit after a two-day visit to Japan. He posted a series of tweets from his handle.
In his address, the defence minister also spoke about the need for common rules-based order in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific region.
He said the "order" must be based on sovereignty and territorial integrity and equality of all nations, irrespective of size and strength, adding India is for an open and inclusive architecture for the region.
These observations come in the backdrop of China expanding its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region triggering concerns in various countries of the region.
The US has been pushing for a bigger role for India in the Indo-Pacific which is seen by many countries as an effort to contain China's growing clout in the region.
Talking about India's 'neighbourhood first policy', he said New Delhi is engaged with its neighbours in sub-regional groupings of IORA (Indian-Ocean Rim Association) and BIMSTEC apart from a trilateral maritime cooperation format with Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Singh also underlined ancient cultural links between India and South Korea and said people of two countries are linked through family ties that can be traced to the legendary Queen Heo Hwang-ok, who travelled all the way from Ayodhya to marry King Suro of Gaya in present day Gimhae. These linkages form a strong underpinning for our contemporary ties, he said.