Observing that non-state actors have emerged as the greatest negative interventions in global peace efforts, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday called for united efforts by the international community to deal with these elements.

“Individual efforts may not be sufficient to neutralise these non-state actors. Only in togetherness, in firm and final mechanism, can they be dealt with,” he observed.

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Dhankhar was delivering the keynote address at the 2023 edition of the “Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue here.

Noting that piracy and drug trafficking still remain a challenge despite all the technological advancements, he said the wealth generated from these is used by non-state actors to disrupt peace and harmony.

The vice-president said that as the fastest growing economy, India seeks a free and peaceful rule-based Indo-Pacific region with open and unrestricted flow of lawful legitimate commerce.

Calling for freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with established international Laws and Conventions, Dhankhar stressed, “We seek a just global regulatory regime that respects the right over EEZ, for the sustainable and equitable exploitation of marine resources and Sea-bed in high seas.” His comments are significant against the backdrop of China’s aggressive posturing in the Indo-Pacific.

He highlighted that the immense unexploited wealth in seas makes them the new frontier for contestation among global players and stressed the need for a regulatory regime and its effective enforcement to contain the possibility of contesting claims of the seas and its assets.

Describing the emergence of ”Bharat” as a leading economy as a stabilising factor for global peace and harmony, the vice president emphasised that India has to play a critical and constructive role to ensure that it leads from the front to ensure global order. “You cannot enforce peace, you cannot negotiate peace, you cannot aspire peace from a position of weakness. You have to be strong and you have to be strong on all fundamentals. India in the current scenario is eminently suited for this,” he added.

Mentioning that the world currently faces two serious conflagrations and there is no light visible at the end of the tunnel, he called upon the experts to think out of box to find a solution. Underlining that greed of a sovereign nation can only be contained if other nations come together, Dhankhar said that collaborative security and innovative partnerships seem to be the way forward. “This is the only way out. No country can stand alone, there has to be action in togetherness,” he emphasised.

The vice-president also expressed his pain and anguish that India, a country that comprises one sixth of humanity, is not fairly represented at the UNSC, thus downsizing the efficacy of this global body. ”Time has come when we need to focus on that also,” he stressed.