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Encouraging response to defence diplomacy: Pranab

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Sunday that India's ongoing exercise in "defence diplomacy" had evoked "quite encouraging" responses from major powers.

Mr. Mukherjee, who met U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld here on the sidelines of an Asia Security Summit, had held talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing and his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo over the past 10 days.

In Singapore, he met the defence ministers of eight other countries, including Indonesia and Australia, besides the City-State itself, before leaving for New Delhi .

He told The Hindu that "defence cooperation" with other powers "should be an integral part of our diplomatic exercise." This should be possible because India's defence and foreign policies "are rooted in the same ideological basis - no territorial ambition, no ideological export." The objective of such diplomacy was to maintain peace and tranquillity along India's borders, to defuse tension and to engage in defence-related dialogue with other powers.

Transparency in procurements

He said China and Japan had "warmly responded to our initiative" in this regard. Asked whether India was now seeking to tap Japanese high-tech capabilities for defence purchases or production, he said transparency was built into the procurement process.

Asked about the scope of the defence relationship that the U.S. was looking to build with India, Mr. Mukherjee said: "Strategic partnership has been declared our objective."

At the summit, Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono emphasised the importance of India, China, and Japan to an Asian security order. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak suggested the creation of a regional security village, based on shared values. Singapore's Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean drew attention to the ongoing "globalisation of security."

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Encouraging response to defence diplomacy: Pranab

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