The Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, has said that inclusive development, peace, and universal well-being while nurturing the environment is at the heart of Indian philosophy. Saying that India’s core values for ages are the foundation of its identity and are premised on India’s civilisational ethos and essence, he said in the present times they are a blend of ancient wisdom and modernity aiming to fructify people’s aspirations.

Addressing the National Defence College on ‘India’s Core Values, Interests and Objectives’ here today, he said as the world’s largest democracy, India celebrates its diversity with several official languages, multiple religions, and varied ethnicity canvas under one Constitution ensuring freedom and equality. Peaceful Coexistence finds reflection in our philosophy over the ages. India’s foreign policy emphasises respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity of nations and primacy of dialogue over conflict. Unity in Diversity has been ever exemplified both in thought and action. India embraces differences across festivals, cuisines, languages, cultures as strengths, inclusive and distanced from divisiveness.

While drawing attention to Bharat’s ancient wisdom, he said that, “ As global peace fractures, wars intensify, and hostilities harden into doctrine – all while the climate crisis looms – humanity teeters on a precipice. Salvation may lie in embracing India’s ancient wisdom: millennia-old principles of harmony, tolerance and coexistence.”

Calling India as the spiritual capital of the world and cradle of sublimity and divinity, Dhankhar underscored that India is a nation that seeks well-being not just for itself but for the entire humanity. “Recently as G20 Chair, India, spurred by its core values, championed a shift from GDP-focused to human-centred global progress, emphasising unity over division … .Integrating the African Union as a permanent G20 member was a landmark achievement. Voice of Global South Summits hosted by India during its G20 Presidency brought Global South on international radar. India aims to be a constructive global force through peacekeeping and climate action initiatives”, he added.

The VP further stated that India’s interests are driven by the welfare of its people and global peace while emphasising that the menace of terrorism and fundamentalism be combated in tandem and togetherness. With economic development, people centric growth, inclusive development as paramount and priority. India is focused on evolving as an innovation hub. These are evidenced with initiatives like Make in India and Digital India fostering innovation and entrepreneurship for its young population.

Highlighting nation’s commitment to gender justice he said, “India is committed to gender justice, this being vital to economy and societal values, as also harmony. This has resulted in not only empowerment of women, it has graduated to the next level, women led empowerment. Distinguished audience, “Constitutional prescription of one third reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures is both epochal and game changer with the prospect of larger participation of women in governance, policy making and administration”.

Stating that peace disruption or conflagration in any part of the globe has potential to upset and unsettle growth, harmony and development making focus on national security imperative, he said that a robust national security architecture based on a clear national security strategy is a precondition for achieving our developmental goals.

“This ordains the nation to focus on strategic security through strong defence capabilities while maintaining regional peace. Towards this, India has advocated on global fora adherence to rule-based order and need for connect and dialogue, cooperation and consensus as against confrontation”, he added.

Referring to India’s ambition to become ‘Viksit Bhart in 2047’, Dhankhar said that, “ The vision of India’s centenary of independence encompasses prosperity, self-reliance, advanced infrastructure, and technological leadership….India is known to have had the largest economy of the ancient and mediaeval world, controlling between one-third and one-fourth of the world’s wealth. India obviously seeks to attain this in present times. This togetherness will define Viksit Bharat in 2047. Indiaʼs core values, interests, and objectives resonate with the aspirations of humanity as a whole.

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