India can take on the role of net security provider in Indian Ocean Region: Defence Minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh onWednesday said India can take on the role of being the netsecurity provider in the Indian Ocean Region as geopoliticallyit is a reliable partner in the IOR.

''We live in a challenging geo-political landscape wherecountries not only have to face the threat of militaryaggression, but natural calamities which include pandemicslike COVID-19 which has wreaked havoc in the last one year,''Singh said.

Therefore, when faced with threats across multipledimensions, it is imperative for the nation to strengthenrelations with countries with whom it shared converging viewson key global issues, he said,addressing the inaugural sessionof Chiefs of the Air Staff Conclave at Aero India here.

''Geopolitically India is a reliable partner in the IndianOcean Region and can take on the role of being the netsecurity provider in the region,'' he added.

Noting that air power has and would continue to play acritical role in maintaining regional stability and peace inthe region, Singh said freedom of manoeuvre provided by airand space capabilities enables the nation to influence in asustainable and clearly escalable manner.

The Indian Air force is at the very forefront ofoffensive capabilities with its reach, speed and precision, hesaid.

Indias unique disposition in the IOR, complimented by apotent airlift capability of IAF, enables it to contributesignificantly in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR)missions, he said.

Singh noted that India has been regularly conductingexercises to deepen HADR cooperation and coordination amongits neighbours with a focus on sharing expertise and assistingbuilding capabilities.

He also said that the recent conflicts had shown thepotency of emerging technologies and India is heavily focusedon building these capabilities.

''We are keen to cooperate with our defence partners inthese niche technologies with focus on knowledge sharing andco-production,'' he added.

The Chiefs of the Air Staff Conclave today had physicalrepresentation from 26 countries, while 14 were in attendancevirtually, officials said.

The Conclave has been planned with three sessions toaddress the themes of disruptive technologies and innovations,air power in Indo-Pacific region and air power and airspacestrategies, they said.

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, in hiskeynote address, said ''we have witnessed a paradigm change inthe Geo-political landscape in recent years and globally, weare facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty, volatility andinterconnected threats.'' While the world was grappling with complications andcontrol of the pandemic, the worsening inter-state relations,rising mistrust and geopolitical tensions have only reinforcedthe importance of mature and balanced cooperation atinternational level, he said.

''We need to strengthen our mutual understanding andexisting security frameworks based on the principles ofCooperation, Collaboration and Coexistence,'' he said, addingthat for India, the security challenges are as varied as itsgeography and as unpredictable as the nation's threats.

Noting that the nature of warfare has changedsignificantly in the last few years, the air chief said adventof new technologies and cross linking of 'Physical', 'Digital'and 'Cognitive' domains has complicated the art of warfighting considerably.

''Our understanding of national boundaries has shiftedwell beyond the classical definitions of airspaces, landborders and shorelines. An attack may originate withoutwarning, several time zones away, and its effect mayproliferate rapidly across several domains.'' Also, the exponential technological progress made in thelast few years has made the realm of sub-con warfare morecomplex, Bhadauria said.

The low cost and easy availability of simple disruptivetechnology like drones with small state and non-state actorshave made them more lethal, agile and capable of generatingdisproportionate effects, he said.

''We are closely observing these developments and arefocusing on developing capabilities in unmanned, andoptionally manned platforms, manned-unmanned teaming, andanti-drone technologies,'' he added.