MP: Peace Without Power Is Utopian: CDS Gen Anil Chauhan
“India has always stood on the side of peace. We are a peace-loving nation, but don’t get mistaken- we cannot be pacifist. Peace without power is utopian”, General Chauhan said.
Bhopal: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said that India is a peace-loving nation, but cannot be pacifist.
Addressing the inaugural edition of ‘Ran Samvad 2025’, a two-day strategic conclave of the tri-service held at the Army War College in Mhow under Indore district in Madhya Pradesh, General Chauhan said that India’s pursuit of peace is also embedded with the philosophy that security must be underwritten by strength.
“India has always stood on the side of peace. We are a peace-loving nation, but don’t get mistaken- we cannot be pacifist. Peace without power is utopian”, General Chauhan said.
He laid emphasis on military preparedness to achieve the goal of attaining stability by invoking a Latin maxim.
“Si vis pacem, para bellum”, which translates into English as “If you want peace, prepare for war”, he said.
He said that “As a Viksit Bharat, we need to be ‘Shashastra’ (armed), ‘Suraksit’ (secure), and ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant), not only in technology but also in ideas and in practice”.
The CDS said that India’s strategic ethos has taught us that a combination of military strategy and warriors is essential to win.
That is why ‘Shastra’ and ‘Shashtra’ are spoken in the same breath. In fact, they are two blades of a sword.
The best example of this is Mahabharat and Gita.
Arjun was the greatest warrior, yet he needed a Krishna to mentor him to achieve victory and Chandragupta needed the wisdom of Chanakya to (win the wars), he said.
Although India always believed in restraint and peaceful resolution of disputes, the contemporary security environment however demands readiness against both conventional and unconventional threats.
The contemporary security environment has become very complex with the nature of conflict being redefined continuously with the evolution of technology.
“India cannot afford to remain complacent in such a challenging situation”, he said.
“Ran Samvad 2025’, is a strategic conclave involving dialogue among the serving officers of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, along with the defence experts and scholars on the nature of contemporary and future conflicts, wars and warfare.
