‘No power should change rules-based order unilaterally’

NEW DELHI: Freedom of navigation in oceans is governed by rules-based order and no power or group of powers should have the right to change it unilaterally, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Sitharam’s comments are seen as an oblique reference to China’s growing military assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.

China has territorial disputes over the South China sea with several countries of the region, and India along with other nations have been maintaining that freedom of navigation and over flight must be respected in the area.

“We belong to a multi-polar world, where we want to make it clear that freedom of navigation can never be unilaterally or arbitrarily questioned by anybody.

“And, we are very clear in saying that this is the rulesbased order globally, and no one power, or a regional power, or no group of powers or no one, should have the right to unilaterally change this order,” she said.

The defence minister was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the two-day ‘Indo-pacific Regional Dialogue’, hosted by the India Navy in partnership with defence think- tank National Maritime Foundation (NMF) at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.

Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence in the UK, Stephen Lovegrove, were also present on the dais.

“India, till very recently has long been seen as a regional player, with tactical prowess .... But, I am glad to say that in recent years, India, is now seen as a global influencer of policies, and takes its leadership role globally, seriously,” she said.

“We are no longer a regional player, and no longer a regional policy influencer, globally we have a leadership, which is spearheaded within India,” Sitharaman asserted.

The defence minster said the freedom of navigation is a “universally accepted” norm that can “never be challenged”.

“And, any situation that poses a question about it must be taken up seriously by all of us,” she said.

Lanba said the recent churning of global order has also prompted “many nations to pursue aggressive international cooperation and seek new alignments in support of their respective own interests”.

And, therefore restoring the faith in a rules-based order, irrespective of who leads that order, is one of the challenges, he said.

Sitharaman also said the Indo-pacific region is very important and India has a “big role” to play, including in countering piracy, and not as just first responders for humanitarian causes.

Air bases and land bases are important for security, “but we also have Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, so maritime security is needed for trade and commerce, and so we talk of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region),” she said.

She also said costs are unbelievably “very high”, when it comes to ensuring regional security, and each country cannot therefore spend on its own expenditure. So, in maritime area, it has to be recognised that the “cost has to be shareable”.

The global rules-based order, what the UN is trying to implement, has its own “weak links”. Therefore, forming a maritime alliance can only help in rationalising the cost.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, in his address, spoke about the Sagarmala initiative and the Mumbai cruise terminal project.

The Sagarmala project has an objective of promoting “port-led development” along India’s 7,500-km long coastline for which the Shipping Ministry has been appointed as the nodal ministry. NEW DELHI: IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said he is in talks with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to expedite the process of linking motor vehicle driving licences with biometric identifier Aadhaar.

“I am taking with Nitin Gadkari ji to finalise the linking up all the motor mehicle driving licences with Aadhaar,” Prasad said addressing the NSE Tech Conclave 2018 here.

Prasad said that the move will be in public safety and public interest, and added that some state initiatives are already on, in this regard.

“Say, a driver from one state driving in another in a state of drunkenness attempts a hit-and-run and then takes a duplicate driving licence from a different state. Now, when he goes he can fake his name but cannot fake his digital identity,” the minister said.

“We are fast-track expediting it,” he said referring to his ongoing talks with Gadkari.

The proposed Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill provides for linking of driving licence and vehicle registration with Aadhaar-based platform and proposes heavy penalties for traffic violations.

The Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha but is awaiting Rajya Sabha nod.

Prasad further said that the government had saved Rs 57,000 crore with its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme under which subsidies are given directly to beneficiaries, and termed Aadhaar as a “marvel”.

Over 1.2 billion Aadhaar numbers have been issued so far, Prasad said referring to the unique biometric identifier that is required as an identity proof of residents by various government and non-government entities.

For instance, the government has made it mandatory for verifying bank accounts and PANS to weed out black money and bring unaccounted wealth to book. The same for cellphone SIMS has been mandated to establish the identity of mobile phone users.