India lives in a troubled neighbourhood: Antony

NEW DELHI - India lives in a “troubled neighbourhood” and has to “maintain balance and restraint even in the face of grave challenges to our security”, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Friday.

“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,” he said during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-young in Seoul.

“Our intention is to develop friendly and cooperative relations with all our neighbours so that we can focus on our major development needs,” an Indian defence ministry statement quoted him as saying.

India, Antony said, looks at itself as an integral part of East Asia. As a founding member of the East Asia Summit, India looks at the emerging architecture in the region as open and inclusive.

“That is why we welcome the decision of the 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,” Antony said.

He noted that India and South Korea share the common perception of maintaining peace as well as ensuring the safety and security of sea lanes of communication in the region. He said regular exchanges towards ensuring maritime security is important to both countries, especially in securing vital energy supplies that pass through the Indian Ocean.

“It is of particular importance for like-minded countries working in the Gulf of Aden to coordinate efforts and also exchange information on the happenings in the area. We look forward to continued and enhanced cooperation between the navies of India and South Korea in this regard,” Antony said.

He hoped that his visit, the first by an Indian defence minister, “will start a new chapter in our already close relationship”.

Antony said India will be happy to see the relationship of the defence industries of India and South Korea evolving from that of a buyer-seller by spreading to to areas like transfer of technology, joint production and joint R&D.

The 90-minute talks between the two defence ministers covered a wide range of security issues - both regional and global, the defence ministry statement said.

After the talks, India, South Korea signed two landmark MoUs to herald a new chapter in their history of defence cooperation and give a huge boost to their strategic partnership .

The first MoU, signed by Antony and Kim, envisages exchange of defence related experience and information, mutual exchange of visits by military personnel and experts including civilian staff associated with defence services, military education and training and conduct of military exercises, exchange of visits of ships and aircraft, as jointly decided between the two countries, the statement said.

The MoU also envisages cooperation in humanitarian assistance and international peacekeeping activities. The MoU will remain valid for a period of five years and can be extended by five more years.

The second MoU was signed by the Chief Controller of Research and Development of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Prahlada, and the vice commissioner of South Korea’s Defence Acquisition and Procurement Agency, Kwon Oh Bong.

To be operational under the overarching umbrella of the India-South Korea Defence Agreement, the MoU aims at identifying futuristic defence technology areas of mutual interest and pursuing R&D works in both countries.

It also envisages co-development and co-production of defence products with Indian industry through the DRDO.

“There will be joint IPR on all the products developed through this mechanism. Some areas of immediate interest like marine systems, electronics and intelligent systems have been identified as priority tasks,” the statement said.

Earlier Friday, Antony and his delegation, that includes Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, drove down to the National Cemetery in Seoul and laid a wreath.

Antony also inspected, amid light drizzle, a traditional colourful inter-services guard of honour presented by the South Korean Armed Forces on arrival at the defence ministry.