India on Friday emphasised need to maintain balance and restraint in the sub-continent even in the face of grave challenges to its security and underscored its approach in developing friendly and cooperative relations with all its neighbours.
Talking on regional security in Seoul, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, now on a three-day visit to South Korea, said, “We live in a troubled neighbourhood. Some call it a fragile region. We have to maintain balance and restraint even in the face of grave challenges to our security. Our intention is to develop friendly and cooperative relations with all our neighbours so that we can focus on our major development needs.”
Common perception
India and South Korea, he said, shared common perception of maintaining peace and ensuring safety and security of the sea lanes of communication in the region. Also, regular exchanges to ensure maritime security and cooperation among like-minded countries in the Gulf of Aden were of particular importance, an official release here said.
Mr. Antony, who held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Tae-young, on a wide range of regional and global security issues, said India thought itself as an integral part of east Asia and as a founding member of the East Asia Summit, looked at the emerging architecture in east Asia as open and inclusive.
“That is why we welcome the decision of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers to move towards the inclusion of the United States and Russia as members of the East Asia Summit. We look forward to working closely with South Korea in the emerging architecture in this part of the world,' he said.
Heralding a new chapter in the history of defence cooperation and boost to strategic partnerships, both countries signed two landmark Memoranda of Understanding.
The MoUs were signed at the end of delegation-level talks led by Mr. Antony, who became the first Indian Defence Minister to visit South Korea.
The first MoU envisages exchange of defence-related experience and information; exchange of visits by military personnel and experts, including civilian staff associated with defence services; military education and training; exchange of visits of ships and aircraft; and conduct of military exercises. It also envisages cooperation in humanitarian assistance and international peace keeping activities.
The other MoU between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and South Korea's Defence Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) will be operational under the overarching umbrella of India-South Korea Defence Agreement. The MoU aims at identifying futuristic defence technology areas of mutual interest and pursuing R&D. It further envisages co-development and co-production of defence products with Indian industry through the DRDO.
There will be joint Intellectual Property Right (IPR) on all products developed through this mechanism. Some areas of immediate interest include developing marine systems, electronics and intelligent systems.
