mind: AkbarNew Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) India today called for a "war"against terrorism and said radicalisation must be fought onthe battlefield as well as in the mind.
Addressing the India-ASEAN connectivity summit here,Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar also saidIndia recognises that the existential threat comes fromideologues that believe in faith-supremacy.
Talking about connectivity, he emphasised on the need forensuring freedom of navigation in all waters, seen as areference to China's expansionist behaviour in the South ChinaSea.
"We believe in pluralism, and equality of culture andfaith; and we recognise that the existential threat comes fromideologues who believe in faith-supremacy with their evil,barbaric terrorist militias," Akbar said.
The two-day summit is exploring ways to deepenconnectivity between India and the ASEAN (Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations) member countries.
"We believe in bridges, not barriers; in freedom ofnavigation in all waters. We recognise what needs to be donein the fourth world war, the war against terrorism. And weknow that radicalisation must be fought on the battlefield aswell as in the mind," he said.
Akbar said there was a need for consistency in fightingterrorism and insisted that there was no good terrorism or badterrorism.
On connectivity, he said the 21st century will not belongto land and that it will be a century of the seas, skies andspace.
"All you have to do is look at the map. Geo-politically,and for many other reasons, India is the pivotal nation ofAsia. ASEAN launched the process of redefinition byconcentrating on the logic of regional groups," he said.
Akbar said connectivity has acquired exciting andcreative dimensions, adding there is huge scope to enhanceconnectivity between India and the ASEAN countries.
The ASEAN has been a major trading bloc for India andboth sides are currently exploring ways to further enhanceit.
The ASEAN region, along with India, comprises combinedpopulation of 1.85 billion people, which is one-fourth of theglobal population and their combined GDP has been estimated tobe over USD 3.8 trillion.
Investment from ASEAN to India has been over USD 70billion in the last 17 years, accounting for more than 17 percent of India's total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
India's investment in ASEAN during the same period hasbeen more than USD 40 billion. PTI MPBTIR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.