No threats from Pak, China; problem within India: Menon

October 13, 2016

Washington, Oct 13: The real threats to India are "internal" and emanate from communal and social violence, not from outside forces such as Pakistan or China, former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon has said.

menonAsked if Pakistan or China pose an existential threat to India, Menon said: "No"."In terms of national security, I think the real threats are internal," he told PTI.

"There's no existential threat to India's existence today externally, unlike in the 50s or when we were formed. And for many years till late 60s there were actual internal separatist threats, not any more. I think that we have actual dealt with," Menon said.

His long career in public service spans diplomacy, national security, and India's relations with its neighbours and major global powers. Menon served as national security advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from January 2010 to May 2014.

Menon's first book post retirement - 'Choices: Inside the making of India's Foreign Policy' - is all set to hit book stores globally next week.

Asked to elaborate on what he meant by internal threats, he said: "If there are real threats to India, to the idea of India, India's integrity, today they actually come from within the country."

"If you look at violence in India, deaths from terrorism, from left wing extremism, declined steadily throughout this 21st century until 2014-2015. Even now the basic trend for terrorism, left wing extremism is down. What has increased is since 2012, communal violence, social violence, internal violence has increase. That is something we need to find a way in dealing with," Menon said.

"This is not a traditional law and order problem, which our traditional instruments, the police, the states know how to deal with. You look at violence against women, communal, caste violence, if you look at those firms of violence, these are all a result of tremendous social and economic change of uprooting of population, urbanization... various forms of change, which we still need to learn how to deal with," he said.

Menon said those are the threats, which in the long run, has a "potential to make real difference".

"India has changed. It is normal. It happens to most societies where there is change. But you also have to learn new ways of dealing with," he said and attributed the new threats to the rapid and fast development of the country.

When asked that some people attributed this to the BJP coming to power, Menon said even that is a consequence of the change that the Indian society is undergoing now.

Menon previously served as India's foreign secretary from 2006 to 2009 and as ambassador and high commissioner to Israel from 1995-1997, Sri Lanka (1997-2000), China (2000-2003) and Pakistan (2003-2006).

Comments

rikaz
 - 
Saturday, 15 Oct 2016

Naresh, your kesari men eat more beef then muslims....now you just shut-up okay....they are not protector but are bakshakas...better surgical attack on internal so called cow protectors....

Naren kotian
 - 
Thursday, 13 Oct 2016

Rikacha sumne irappa ...biryani ammi madavranthe hogappa ...he said external forces cannot shake India but some internal anti India forces are giving launch pads for porkis in the name of religion ...surgical strikes needed in terrorist own mini Pakistan's within India . as per latest report ....90% nationalist Indians endorse surgical strikes against enemy ...aa 10% yaaru antha bidisi helbekilla
..haha

Rikaz
 - 
Thursday, 13 Oct 2016

Killing in the name of cow, love jihad, lower castes....these should be stopped....RSS and bajrangy kind of groups should be banned from the society....these are the people who create problem around....not pakistan of china....

Shaad
 - 
Thursday, 13 Oct 2016

Pakistan Army very experienced in tackling terrorism and war since they face every minute is war like situation inside Pakistan.
Indian Army do surgical strikes once in a while and PM will take credits. Saffron terrorist got free hand in India. Our Army and skills will not grow unless they fight against saffron terrorist within India before going war against any other country.
Hemant Karkare almost reached to Army ammo on supplying IED for saffron terrorist on Malegao and other 8 blast in India before his controversial assassination.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 30,2020

Istanbul: Mosques in Turkey reopened on Friday for mass prayers after more than two months as the government further eased strict restrictions to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Turkey has been shifting since May to a "new normal" by easing lockdown measures and opening shopping malls, barbershops and hair salons.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said many other sites -- restaurants and cafes as well as libraries, parks and beaches -- will reopen from Monday.

Hundreds of worshippers wearing protective masks performed mass prayers outside Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque for the first time since mosques were shut down in March.

In the Ottoman-era Fatih mosque, worshippers prayed both inside and outside, with the municipality handing out disinfectants and disposable carpets.

"I have waited a lot for this, I have prayed a lot. I can say it's like a new birth, thanks to God, he has brought us back here," he said.

Another worshipper, Asum Tekif, 50, said: "It has a been a long time... we missed the mosques."

Turkey, a country of 83 million, has so far recorded 4,489 coronavirus-related deaths and 162,120 confirmed cases.

Prayers in Hagia Sophia

Muslim clerics on Friday recited prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque.

The prayers were held to celebrate the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, by the Ottomans in 1453.

"It is very important to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest ... through prayers in the Hagia Sophia," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the ceremony via videoconference.

The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.

But there have been hints about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Last year, Erdogan himself mooted the possibility of turning Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque.

Such calls have sparked anger among Christians and raised tensions with neighbouring Greece.

In 2015, a Muslim cleric recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years to mark the opening of an exhibition.

After Friday prayers at the Blue Mosque, a small group of Muslim worshippers shouted: "Let the chains break and let the Hagia Sophia open".

The group was later dispersed by the police who stopped them from protesting near Hagia Sophia that sits immediately opposite the Blue Mosque.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
May 18,2020

Mangaluru, May 18: The coastal city of Mangaluru and other parts of twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are receiving heavy rain coupled with lightning and thunder.

The rain, which started in the wee hours, continued to lash for hours. It brought much relief from the sweltering heat.

Waterlogged roads in different parts of Mangaluru cause inconvenience to motorists. The clouds were so dark that the drivers were forced to switch on the headlights while driving vehicles in the morning.

The IMD has predicted heavy rain in the coastal Karnataka for next two days.

Lighting claims a life

Meanwhile, a youth died after lightning struck him at Paduyenagudde in Katpadi of Udupi district on Sunday late night. The deceased was identified as Bharat. Though he was rushed to the hospital, he failed to respond to the treatment.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 4,2020

Bagalkot, April 4: A COVID-19 positive patient passed away in Karnataka's Bagalkot on Friday, taking the total number of deaths in the state to four, informed the Deputy Commissioner of Bagalkot.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 2650 including 184 people who have been discharged or cured or migrated, and 68 deaths, as per the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.