Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The concept of security has expanded and undergone a massive transformation to include economic progress, especially in the context of global economy, climate change and good governance, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Monday.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 14th Asian Security Conference organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Emphasising on non-traditional threats, the minister said: “The impact of basic issues such as food, water, economic instability and security-related issues, such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and drug trafficking is having an impact on the dynamics of various societies and nations.”

Antony called upon the Asian countries to work towards setting up a mechanism to take regular contact and dialogue between nations to the next level and make common recommendations to the governments and to help them address such challenges in an effective manner.

Throwing light on India’s role, the minister said that as one of the fastest growing economies in the region and a stable democratic nation, “India has been and will continue to be committed towards building a peaceful, secure and economically stable Asia”.

India is the “only country in the world to form a ministry for new and renewable energy, has drawn up a National Action Plan for Climate Change and set up an advisory council chaired by the prime minister”, Antony said.

Welcoming the delegates, IDSA Director General Arvind Gupta said that a common feature of the non-traditional security threats is that they are trans-national. They affect large number of people, they are not well understood, they are mutually reinforcing and they require wider international cooperation.

Gupta hoped that the three-day conference would address these issues and would throw up new ideas that will enrich the understanding of the challenges arising out of non-traditional security threats.

The Asian Security Conference is a flagship event of IDSA, organised annually to capture the complex issues involved in Asia’s emergence as the new locus of international affairs in the 21st century and India’s emergence as a factor in the continent’s evolving economic, political and security dynamics.

Every year, since 1999, IDSA has brought together academics, policy analysts, and officials (government and multilateral organisations) from various Asian countries, as well as other parts of the world to debate upon issues pertaining to Asian affairs under the auspices of the Asian Security Conference.