India does not want an arms race:
External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh

India’s Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh said
India has no intention of engaging in any arms race.
He added that India only wants to maintain a credible
deterrent nuclear defense capability.

Mr. Jaswant Singh, gave the reassurance in his speech
on “India and ASEAN: Security Paradigms for AD
2000” organized by the Institute of Defense and Stra-
tegic Studies during his visit to Singapore. India plays
a strategic role in regional stability, asserted Mr.
Jaswant Singh, but it does not pose a threat to its
neighbors.

“India has neither been, nor has it been perceived to
be “hegemonic”. It has never exported any disturbing
or destabilizing ideology. It has not sought to conquer
or even covet others territory, it has not sought to
dominate through trade,” the Indian Minister told his
audience at the meeting.

“But India does seek to increase its economic engage-
ment with the rest of the world.

It is vital, therefore, to ensure peace and stability on

India’s borders and in the regions with which it has
increased interactions.”

“Today, we are ASEAN's geographical neighbors with
greater interactions on economic, political and secu-
rity interests than ever before. The engagement of a
militarily stronger, economically prosperous, demo-
cratic and secular India imparts greater stability to
the region,” he said.

On India’s bilateral dispute with Pakistan, Mr. Jaswant
Singh said the issue could be addressed through dia-
logue. But he noted that an “environment conducive
for dialogue requires that you stop promoting cross-
border terrorism, advocating jihad as an instrument
of foreign policy”.

Mr. Jaswant Singh said establishing and managing a
stable, tolerant and secular state is a common prob-
lem faced by many countries in the region. It is also
an issue that can be complicated by externally in-
duced factors. He said the goal is to forge a common
endeavor to create political stability and security in
the region.

Indian Science Delegation in Washington
May 26, 2000

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, Secretary, Government of India,
Scientific & Industrial Research and Director General,
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, addressed
Washington based science diplomats of different coun-
tries at a function organized at the Indian embassy
today.

Dr. Mashelkar emphasized India's tremendous com-
petitive advantages in facing the challenges of the
new century, which could turn it into a global R&D
center. By the year 2015, 55% of India’s population
will be under 20 years age giving India a large human
resource pool of 600 to 700 million young adults.
This would in turn provide a tremendous cost advan-
tage to India’s R&D giving it the highest return on
investment in knowledge industries. Dr. Mashelkar
also highlighted India’s rich bio-diversity, and the
need to use it for the propagation of the 5 Es- Eco-

6 INDIA NEWS ¢ May-June 2000

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nomic Development, Equity, Ethics, Environment and
Ecology. In this context, he pointed out the need to
integrate and network strongly with other countries
including the USA for the greater benefit of all man-
kind.

Ambassador Naresh Chandra also addressed the
delegates on various aspects of Indo-U.S. relations,
particularly the agreement setting up the Indo-U.S.
Science and Technology forum concluded during Presi-
dent Clinton's recent visit to India.

Science diplomats of different countries and repre-
sentatives of the Office of Science & Technology Policy,
National Science Foundation, National Institute of
Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration and NASA attended the gathering.