JOIN USIndia need not be “hawkish” in its approach towards its neighbours, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said on Monday as he warned against country's “excessive obsession” with Pakistan and China.
Rijiju said the country only needs to be strong and firm but a hawkish policy would not help. “India is a spiritual super power. Idea of India is as a symbol of peace. There is no need to adopt hawkish policy. We are naturally a soft power. But soft does not mean weak. We have to be firm, responsible and strong in our resolve,” he said at a function to mark the foundation day of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Agreeing with keynote speaker Shekhar Gupta, an eminent journalist, the minister said media need to jump over issues. “What we see in TV debates (on foreign policy), it is not taking India to a rightful place.”
“Excessive obsession does not do any good. We need to get over our obsession with Pakistan and China. We need to go beyond that,” he said.
The junior minister’s comments came at a time Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has made it clear that India would give a “fitting” reply to Pakistan if there were any misadventure from its side.
In his keynote address on ‘Pakistan and Neighbourhood: A Hawkish Agenda’, Gupta said, “Our neighbours always look at us. We can have good influence on our neighbours, we can have bad influence on our neighbours.”
He said India’s foreign policy should not be “hawkish” or “dovish” but it should be defined on the strength of democracy and intellectual capital in conjunction with the use of military power.