New Delhi: Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday expressed concern at the safety and security of Indians working in West Asia and said that given New Delhi’s vital stake in peace and stability in the region, it was natural for India to have an interest in abiding peace and security there.
Addressing the 15th Asian Security Conference organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) here, he said that during 2011, India had evacuated nearly 19,000 of its nationals working in Libya. “Given India’s vital stake in peace and stability in the region, it is natural for India to have an interest in abiding peace and security in the region,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of a stable and peaceful West Asia for India’s economic growth, the Defence Minister said India could “ill afford” to remain aloof from the transfor-mative changes in its immediate and extended neighborhood. He, however, cautioned that the journey ahead would be “long, tortuous and full of twists and turns.” The Defence Minister said India had to be extremely tactful in safeguarding its interests while dealing with the problems of the region since the developments there had the potential of changing the regional and geopolitical landscape and the region being critical for energy security.
He said that in 2012, India received USD 70 billion in remittances from foreign countries and a majority of them came from gulf region. These remittances supported nearly 40-50 million families in India and at the same time contributed to local prosperity.
He said India’s trade with the region was expanding and during 2011-12, trade with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was more than 145 billion dollars.
The recent developments in the region had complicated the security situation in the region, he added.
Dwelling at length on the changes taking place in West Asia, Mr Antony said the strong urge for change was clearly visible across the region.
“The voice of youth is a universal message that is strongly echoing across to governments in all regions of the world,” he said and added that the recent developments in all these countries gave a lesson that no government or regime could afford to ignore the popular aspirations anymore. (PTI)