PAKISTAN UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS STRATEGY OF ONFRONTATION WITH
INDIA - SAYS THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Pakistan has been found to
be an epicenter of Islamic fundamentalism and her actions had
added a new dimension to state sponsored terrorism. This has been
stated in the Annual Report of the Ministry of Defence for the
year 2001 – 2002 released here today. The report says Pakistan
had all along been the primary source of supply of arms and ammunitions
to Kashmiri Militants and is continuing with its policy of sponsoring
terrorism in other parts of India too. According to the report
it is in this context that India had to deploy army on internal
security duties in Jammu and Kashmir. The continued terrorist
violence underscored the fact that Pakistan remains unwilling
to give up its strategy of confrontation, violence and deception
towards India.
The report talks about
improvement in Sino-Indian relations during the year 2001-2002.
However, it says, despite denials by China there were continuing
reports of the transfer of missile parts and components technology
to Pakistan in the year 2001. The report has also referred to
the unresolved boundary dispute between both the countries and
says China continues to occupy approximately 38,000 sq kms of
Indian territory.
Referring to other neighbouring
countries viz. Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives and
Sri Lanka the report claims of qualitative improvement in relations.
The report says occasionally minor irritants do spring up as they
do between most neighbours. These have been tackled with maturity
and in a spirit of accommodation and India foresees no security
problems.
About Afghanistan the
report says India has reiterated its support and commitment for
the rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes of post conflict
Afghanistan. The report has referred to the extensive humanitarian
assistance provided to Afghanistan especially in the field of
medical relief and services.
According to the report
Central Asia is an area of political and strategic importance
for India. It says India’s interest in the region is enduring
and there is immense potential for cooperation with Central Asian
Republics.
Referring to relations
with Japan the report says India and Japan have agreed to hold
military to military dialogues annually. It says Defence exchanges
between the two countries are a positive factor for the maintenance
of peace and stability in the region.
The Defence Ministry’s
Annual Report has expressed concern over the security situation
in Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Referring
to the elections held in Fiji in September last year the report
says, constitutional Government is yet to be established there
and this has adversely affected participation of all sections
of the Fijian society in the Government.
Referring to Indo-US relations
the report says there was considerable progress in Defence cooperation
after a three year period of limited contacts. Resumption of the
existing Institutional framework of Defence cooperation - the
Defence Policy Group and the Joint Technical Group - has been
supplemented by addition of new elements to this structure, such
as Security Cooperation Group to manage the Defence supplies relationships
between the two countries. The report has said that lifting of
unilateral restrictions by the United States has paved the way
for fuller development of economic, military and technology relations
between the two countries. India and the United States have taken
a number of new initiatives to build counter terrorism capacity,
including military-military cooperation.
Referring to India’s
Nuclear Policy and Disarmament, the report says India remains
a consistent proponent of complete disarmament and attaches the
highest priority to global nuclear disarmament. This sets the
country apart from other nuclear weapon States, which reject global
nuclear disarmament proposals because they refuse to visualize
their security without nuclear weapons. India has also unambiguously
indicated its support to the establishment of an adhoc Committee
in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to negotiate a phased
programme for global nuclear disarmament. India continues to maintain
its opposition to the Non Proliferation Treaty as a discriminatory
and flawed treaty. In May 1998, India announced a voluntary moratorium
on further underground nuclear test explosions. India has also
announced its willingness to move towards a de jure formalisation
of this voluntary undertaking and is in the process of building
a national consensus on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
According to the Defence Ministry’s
report India support efforts for negotiations on a universal,
non-discriminatory and verifiable fissile material cut-off treaty
that would prohibit the future production of fissile material
for weapon purposes. India’s nuclear doctrine is based on maintaining
a minimum credible deterrent and a no-first-use policy as opposed
to nuclear war fighting doctrines or postures of launch on warning.
The report says India remains
committed to constructively participating in international efforts
aimed at strengthening the norm against biological and toxin weapons
by upholding the Convention on Biological and Toxin Weapons and
supporting international consensus to strengthen compliance with
it. As an original Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, India
remains committed to discharging, fully and faithfully, its obligations
under the Convention. The destruction schedule prescribed by the
Convention is being fully met. India is committed to strengthening
the norm of transparency in conventional armaments in general
and greater participation in the UN Register of Conventional Arms,
in particular. It has been submitting its reports to the Register
annually since 1994.
The Defence Ministry Report
says India’s parameters of security clearly extend well beyond
the confines of its conventional geographical borders. Given its
size, location, trade links and exclusive economic zone, India’s
security environment extends from the Persian Gulf in the west
to the Straits of Malacca in the East and from the Central Asian
Republics in the north to the equator in the south.
