Global Terror, Regional Conflicts Threaten Nation States:Antony

New Delhi, Nov 15 (UNI) Though global security remained ''an unquestionable goal'', the security and sovereignty of individual nations were a greater reality, Defence Minister AK Antony today said.

Delivering the valedictory address at the end of a three-day International Seminar on Defence Finance and Economics (ISDFE) here, the Minister attributed this to the ''parallax in the perceptions'' about global security.

''This is what accounts for the terrorists being described as freedom fighters in certain quarters. It is true that the global security environment today is characterised by a high degree of improbability of a global conflagration... But this is more than matched by the specter of global terrorism and possibility of limited regional conflicts... These regional conflicts are potentially more dangerous because of their NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) warfare dimension....'' It was for this very reason that comprehensive defence of a nation would continue to be ''an inescapable function'' of the State, the Defence Minister observed.

Mr Antony stressed upon the need for a pragmatic and unorthodox thinking in issues relating to military planning and strategy while taking into account the country-specific economic reality. He further called upon the experts to adopt economic tools and techniques to evaluate various alternative strategies in terms of what they would cost in absolute terms and in terms of opportunity cost.

He suggested the setting up of a think tank on defence finance and economics which would aim at bringing the discourse on global spending on defence into the public realm. In the runup to achieving this goal, he suggested the setting up of an institutional framework to ensure continuation of the dialogue this first-ever seminar of its kind had initiated.

In this context, Mr Antony called upon the organisers to convert their website into a portal for exchange of views and the setting up of a chair at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in the capital for the study of defence finance and economics.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, Secretary Defence Finance Vinod Mishra and Chief of Air Staff -- and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee -- Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi.

Almost 500 delegates from 26 countries participated in the three -day seminar on various dimensions of Defence Finance. The International Seminar was inaugurated on Monday by External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee. Finance Minister P Chidambaram also spoke on the occasion besides Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju.

The Seminar addressed the issue of ''affordable defence'' in the context of the world spending an astonishing US Dollars 1,118 Billion on Defence -- aggregating 2.5 per cent of the GDP on an average.

UNI DG LS RAI2046