India's progress would have been faster, if borders were more secure, says NSA Doval
security advisor Ajit Doval on Friday said India would have progressed at a much faster pace if its borders had been more secure, defined and not in «adversarial dispossession» while underlining that the country's power has grown immensely in last 10 years.
Delivering the Rustamji Memorial Lecture organised by the BSF on its 21st investiture ceremony, he said, «In the foreseeable future, I don't think our borders are going to be as secure as we will require for our fast economic growth. So, the responsibility on border guarding forces has become very, very heavy. They have got to remain on alert 24X7 in perpetuity. They have got to see that our national interests and country are protected.»
Borders are important because that is the limit which «defines our sovereignty», he said. «Zameen par jo kabza hai wo apna hai, baaki to sab adalat aur kachehri ka kaam hai, us se fark nahi padta (The land which is in our possession is ours, the rest is the matter of courts and that is immaterial),» Doval said. He said the government has paid «very, very high attention» to border security during the past 10 years, a period in which «our comprehensive national power has grown immensely».
The NSA said India is changing very fast and in the next 10 years «we will be a $10 trillion economy and the third largest economy», a «major achievement». He said India will have one of the largest workforces and become a hub of high-technology artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing and various other areas of defence and
