Firstpost Defence Summit: Purpose of defence diplomacy not to enter into wars but to end wars, says Meenakshi Lekhi

Amid Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi on Friday said that defence is a relevant topic of discussion with so much happening around the world and that the purpose of defence diplomacy should not be to enter into wars but to end wars.

Speaking at the ‘Firspost Defence Summit 2024’, Lekhi said, “Considering all that is happening around us, it’s one of the areas where we all need to engage in. We have been engaging over a long period of time but we still need to engage in more because purpose of defence diplomacy is really not to enter into wars but to end wars.”

She said while defence is a subject which people think deals with defence equipment, war handling machines and men but you will find a soldier seeking peace and having military for the peaceful purposes.

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“So far as India’s working or thinking is concerned, we are a peaceful nation and we always strove to contain the, if I can use the word, bad elements in the region, and work for the global peace and work for dominance in the region in a positive way. The three wings of the military, Navy, Air Force and Army, have their own methods of building bridges between our neighbours, our friends and at the same time dealing with the foes. And how the deals need to happen, all those working methodologies are part of defence diplomacy,” added Lekhi.

She said that the past 10 years have seen a huge change in the way India has worked in an outwardly fashion and also inwardly.

“We have made many changes. One of the biggest change, I would say would come from 2015, if I’m not mistaken. Honorable Prime Minister visited Mauritius where he announced Sagar protocols and in those protocols he actually made it clear that India’s policy is going to be sustainability growth for everyone and how oceans need to be kept free. So that seas can flourish, businesses can happen and rule-based order is the order of the world. After unveiling of of 2015 Sagar policy, we have also seen that engagement at various levels was part of institutional mechanism with the Western powers, more with the Western powers,” said the minister.

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She said post 2015, India have had huge interactions not just with the West but also with South East Asia and Asian regions.

“Reasons are more specific and I’m sure everybody here understands the reasons and as the times change the requirement of the time also changes and with changing times strategies need to change also. And we felt that neighbourhood first and act East, these are the policies which in any case government has been working in terms of diplomacy."

“Now, time has come that these very strategies are applied to military diplomacy as well because if we are working towards acting East or neighbourhood first, then we have to be available to our neighbours. And especially on the Eastern flank, more so, because those are the areas which are vulnerable and we have plenty of interactions, institutionalised processes at every level,” she said.