PUNE: A seminar on ‘Emerging Security Challenges in Coastal and Peninsular India’ was held at Southern Command, Pune, on Tuesday as part of the national security lecture series being undertaken by Pune International Centre (PIC), an independent policy research think tank and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) under ‘Foreign Policy Outreach Initiative (FPOI)’.
The proceedings of the seminar were moderated by Lieutenant General SS Mehta (Retd), who emphasised on the importance of having strong defence forces to achieve national security objectives and also to promote a society having a confluence of civilisation rather than the conflict of civilisations.
The inaugural address of the seminar was delivered by Lieutenant General SK Saini, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, in which importance of southern states in promoting national interests, threats prevailing due to the vast coastline and preventive measures undertaken to thwart the nefarious design of inimical elements were elucidated.
A talk on ‘Rising India & China–Pak Axis’ was delivered by Ambassador Gautam Bambawale (Retd), former Indian Higher Commissioner to Bhutan, Pakistan and Indian Ambassador to China.
Sapna Tiwari, IPS, Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB) spoke on the topic ‘Rising Radicalisation and Counter-Terrorism Concerns in Peninsular and Coastal India’.
The officials present at the lecture said that such seminars held in the environs of Southern Command combining the knowledge, experience and wisdom of serving and retired armed forces members will give a fresh perspective to foreign policy issues.
