India has no extra-territorial ambitions: Army chief

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ India has no extra-territorial ambitions, but its aim is to enure a conducive external and internal security environment for unhindered economic progress and socio-political development, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said Thursday, in New Delhi.

Contested sovereignty of maritime territories pose a major challenge in East Asia and the South China Sea and these disputed maritime boundaries are threatening international waters, Gen Rawat said, speaking at a seminar on ‘Evolving Geo-Politics of the Indo-Pacific Region-Challenges and Prospects’.

In his keynote address, Gen Rawat said, “Our security policy flows from two basic cardinals. That is, we have no extra-territorial ambitions and we have no desire to transplant our ideologies on others. Our aim is to enure a conducive external and internal security environment for unhindered economic progress and socio-political development. Thus, stability in the Indo-Pacific region is essential.”

He said within the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Ocean Region remains India’s primary area of interest. India, he said, is committed to uphold and strengthen the rules-based order in Indo-Pacific.