The Vice President of India and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India’s keen desire for peace and prosperity all across is its strength and can give a befitting reply to sponsors of disruptive terror designs as demonstrated by the hugely successful air strikes yesterday. He further said that the operations of Indian Air Force were pre-emptive in nature and in defence of peace and prosperity in the country.Venkaiah Naidu was addressing and interacting, here today, with about 80 diplomats, researchers, academics and members of policy think tanks from 32 countries undergoing ‘Kautilya Fellowship Programme’ organised by the India Foundation. Shri Ram Madhav, Director, India Foundation and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.The Vice President said that India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the whole world is one big family) all along shaped the country’s interaction, outreach and external relationships with the countries, both near and far and its love for peace should not be taken as a weakness.Presenting the aerial strikes against terror camps in perspective, Shri Naidu asserted that “Ours (India) is a pacifist country with an earnest desire to foster peace everywhere. However, being non-violent and peace loving does not mean that we are weak or ignorant of threats to our security and integrity, he said. We are fully aware of these disruptive, destructive tendencies and forces that tend to derail our progress, he further said. We are committed to combat these forces and been fortunate to receive incredible, spontaneous support from several countries and we cannot be passive witness to terrorism and the rising tide of senseless violence, he added.
Elaborating on the grave consequences of rising terrorism across the globe for peace and development, Shri Venkaiah Naidu urged the world community to wake up and join hands in the concerted fight against terrorism and to adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism proposed by India and pending before the United Nations since 1996. Stating that global conflicts and wars have retarded human progress, Shri Naidu stressed on the need to build strong defences against the forces that fuel hatred and cause untold human misery.Shri Naidu called for measures to stop the sources of funding of terror and added that the perpetrators of terrorism should be “named and shamed”.Charging the neighbouring country with aiding, abetting and funding terrorists and using terrorism as a State policy, he said it was trying to cripple the country.Observing that India’s earnest desire was to foster peace everywhere, the Vice President said that peace was a necessary prerequisite for progress.Talking about Kautilya, in whose name the fellowship programme has been established, Shri Naidu said that he was a visionary who wrote a comprehensive Treatise on politics, economics and governance and laid the theoretical foundations of a powerful, welfare State.Shri Naidu also highlighted India’s efforts in making the economy inclusive and outlined various schemes launched by the government such as Jan Dhan and MUDRA. He also talked about India’s efforts to promote clean energy and the initiative of solar alliance.The Vice President also gave a detailed account of the rich and diverse philosophical, spiritual and cultural heritage of the country and in promoting universal brotherhood, besides the policy initiatives taken over the last few years for building a modern and inclusive New India. He noted that the country’s vibrant democracy allows free flow of ideas and views and despite some shortcomings like the Emergency it has withstood the test of the times.