While calling India a “responsible maritime party,” Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday that some “irresponsible nations” with their narrow partisan interests and hegemonic tendencies are offering false definitions of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). After the INS Visakhapatnam was officially commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Mumbai Shipyard, Singh said India, as a responsible maritime actor, is a supporter of consensus-based principles and of a peaceful, open, rules-based and stable maritime order.

Speaking of the 1982 “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” (UNCLOS), Singh said: “Some irresponsible nations, in the name of their narrow partisan interests, continue to give new and inappropriate interpretations to these international laws. trends. Arbitrary interpretations create obstacles in the way of a rules-based maritime order. “We envision a rules-based Indo-Pacific, with freedom of navigation, free trade and universal values, in which the interests of all participating countries are protected,” he added, according to a statement. of the Ministry of Defense.

The Defense Minister congratulated the Indian Navy for advancing the Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) in a spirit of friendship, openness, dialogue and coexistence with neighbors . He also stressed the need to keep the Indo-Pacific region open, safe and secure, calling it the primary focus of the Indian Navy.

Singh asserted that India’s interests are directly linked to the Indian Ocean and the region is crucial to the global economy. “Challenges such as piracy, terrorism, illegal smuggling of weapons and drugs, human trafficking, illegal fishing and environmental damage are also responsible for affecting the maritime domain. Therefore, the role of the Indian Navy is becoming very important throughout the Indo-Pacific region, ”he said.

Singh further underlined the importance of the freedom of navigation and the safety of rules-based sea lanes in the current era of globalization to ensure stability, economic progress and development of the world. Claiming that global security reasons, border disputes and maritime dominance have forced countries to step up their military might, Rajnath Singh urged the public and private sectors to take advantage of government policies, work together and make progress. India an indigenous hub for shipbuilding.

He listed a number of reforms undertaken by the government through which public and private sector companies can make their mark in the international market. The steps include simplifying the licensing process; speed up the Necessity Acceptance (AoN) and Request for Proposal (RFP) process; the establishment of industrial defense corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; positive indigenous lists of more than 200 items; Defense procurement process 2020 and allocating approximately 64% of its modernization funds under the capital acquisition budget for 2021-2022 to purchases from domestic companies. (ANI)

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