Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressing the gathering at the National Defence College on the occasion of its Diamond Jubilee celebrations :

It gives me immense pleasure to address the National Defence College, which is the highest seat of strategic learning in our country on the occasion of its Diamond Jubilee. Congratulations to the Commandant and NDC staff on completing 60 years of dedicated service to the Nation.

The NDC has produced many strategic leaders not only from India, but also from many friendly foreign countries. Some of the alumni have risen to become Heads of their respective countries and many have occupied prominent positions of responsibility in their respective fields.

Perhaps the most fundamental lesson that the roller coaster of the rise and fall of nations taught us was that peace cannot necessarily be achieved by a desire for peace but by the ability to deter war.

The last six years provide a blueprint for India’s approach towards national security over the next decade. Let me try and outline four broad principles that are likely to guide our quest for national security in the future

• The first is the ability to secure India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty from external threats and internal challenges.

• Second, the ability to create secure and stable conditions that can facilitate India’s economic growth, thereby, creating the resources for nation building and to meet individual aspirations.

• Third, we remain steadfast in the desire to protect our interests beyond the borders in areas where our people reside and our security interests converge.

• And finally, we also believe that in a globalised and interconnected world, a country’s security interests are interlinked by shared and secure commons.

Based on these principles, we have brought about drastic changes in our security policy which are oriented towards strong, legally and morally tenable actions.

One of the most important elements of India’s foreign and security policy is characterised by the “Neighbourhood First” initiative

With the exception of Pakistan, given its agenda of fuelling terrorism, India has improved its relations with all neighbours. We have invested heavily to help and support our friends to forge a relationship of mutual-respect and mutual-interest.

Recently, India has been facing other challenges on its borders. India is a peace-loving country. We believe that differences should not become disputes. We attach importance to the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue.

India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of unilateralism and aggression, no matter what the sacrifice.