Antony warns of emerging threat from China

Days after the successful testing of 5000 km range Agni-V, Defence Minister A K Antony said that China ‘s rise as an economic and military power would have security implications for India.

“China’s strategic rivalry with India and Japan would definitely affect the Asian security environment,” Defence Minister A K Antony said at the unified commander’s conference here on Tuesday.

The defence minister said Asia is emerging as a catalyst for transformation of the global balance of power and consequent changes in the global strategic dynamics.

Latest events

On the regional security scenario, he said that latest events in the Af-Pak region clearly show that Af-Pak issues are far from being settled. “Any developments in this region will have strategic and security implications for India,” he said.

Antony said that armed forces would get a dedicated optical fibre (OF) network for vacating a part of the spectrum. “Approval (for the OF network) of the Cabinet Committee in Infrastructure is awaited,” he said, adding that defence and communication ministries had mutually agreed on “defence band” and “defence interest zone”.

Absence of a dedicated high-speed communication line is one of the long standing demands of the armed forces, which dragged its feet for a long time before vacating a part of the spectrum for civilian use.