Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The blurring of lines between what constitutes traditional security issues as represented by military concepts and those that are non-military by definition will be the focus of the three-day 14th Asian Security Conference beginning here Monday.

“Given their potential to exacerbate existing tensions, the non-traditional threats have the potential to contribute to the traditional security threats,” Arvind Gupta, director general of defence ministry-funded think tank Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, which is organising the conference, told reporters here Friday.

Some of the new challenges that have emerged in the last few decades, Gupta said, were “the devastating environmental shocks of climate change and its impact on food, water and energy resources, which in turn has implications on the economy of nations; migration; threat of pandemic diseases that cut across political boundaries, trans-national crime; and regional and global financial crises”.

These have been recognised as “critical issues with repercussions on national, regional and global security having immediate and long term impacts”, he added.

Non-traditional security issues, Gupta noted, “are being perceived as critical to national and global security as are war and armed conflict. They are often trans-national in scope, defy unilateral remedies and require comprehensive political, economic and social responses.”

The conference, which Defence Minister A.K. Antony will inaugurate, has been divided into six sub-themes: Traditional Vs Non-Traditional Security Issues: Conceptual Framework, Climate Change and Natural Disasters, Water Security, Energy and Food Security, Financial and Economic Security and Trans-national Crime.

On the issue of water security, which is rapidly coming to the forefront, Gupta noted that with the increasing importance of trans-boundary rivers, hydro-diplomacy can be seen as a new framework for regional cooperation, with opportunities for dialogue, consultation and data-sharing both between and within states”.

“On the other hand, control of water can also lead to hydro-hegemony and dominance,” he added.

As for energy security, Gupta said that without adequate and affordable supplies of energy resources, “attempts to re-emerge quickly from the recent economic recession may also be jeopardised. It is therefore imperative that long-lasting solutions, including access to new and emerging technology across the board, are sought and implemented”, he added.

Speaking about trans-national crime, Gupta said that prior to the Cold War, this was seen largely as a law and order problem.

“However, globalization and its associated processes of connectivity have resulted in significant changes in the business of trans-national crime with criminal syndicates adopting more sophisticated methods in conducting their illicit activities, which include money laundering, drug trafficking, illegal migration, international terrorism, piracy and smuggling.

“Today, no country is exempted from the threat of trans-national crimes and it is posing a serious threat to national and international security and stability, challenging the authority of states by undermining development and victimizing entire populations,” Gupta said.

Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and former Kyrgyz president Rosa Otunbayeva will also be addressing the conference.