New Delhi: Making it clear that peace with Pakistan cannot be a "one-way traffic", Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday said strong action against anti-India terrorist groups operating from its territory is a "pre-condition" for this process.
The minister also cautioned that the problems confronting Pakistan, a nation facing "turmoil from within", could easily spill over.
"We must be vigilant about the happenings on our western border, while at the same time, try to make peace with out neighbour", he said while addressing the Unified Commanders' Conference here.
Antony said there were forces at work that did not wish well for India. "It is imperative for our armed forces to be prepared to face any challenge to our security that could in turn affect our groing economic prosperity," he said.
"Peace with Pakistan cannot be a one-way traffic. Surely a pre-condition for peace lies in Pakistan taking strong action against anti-India terrorist groups operating from its territory," he said.
Antony noted that these very groups were earlier treated as assets by the Pakistan establishment.
"We should not forget that the groups against whom Pakistan is taking action today, were earlier seen as assets by its establishment. Anti-India forces operating from Pakistan have been trying to destabilise us, as was evidenced by the dastardly attack in Mumbai last November," he said.
The Defence Minister expressed concern over Pakistan inducting highly-sophisticated defence equipment, "many of which are really not meant to develop its capacity to fight terror."
Besides Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, 22 Commanders participated in the conference which discussed steps required to further strengthen the tri-services' approach to security-related issues.
Referring to cross-border infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, Antony said while it had declined in recent years, Pakistan was unable to check terrorist attacks originating from its soil.
In 2008, acts of terrorism were carried out in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore and Delhi. The attack on Mumbai was the most audacious of terror attacks in the Indian hinterland, he added.
About his proposed meeting with US National Security Advisor (NSA) James Jones tomorrow, Antony, later, told reporters that the security situation in the region, especially Afghanistan, was likely to figure among other issues in the discussions.
"We are going to discuss the security scenario around us. While discussing this, we cannot avoid Afghanistan. Taliban is a threat to world peace and threat to our region and a threat to India also," he said.
On India's relations with China, Antony said there were "complex unresolved issues" between the two countries. "India believes that these should be resolved through peaceful means," he said.
The minister sought to dispel the notion of the two countries looking at one another as rivals.
"There is enough space for both India and China to grow into influential nations in the evolving international order," he said.
On the situation in Sri Lanka, he said that for lasting peace within, Colombo needed to backup its military gains against the LTTE with a political devolution package that satisfies the aspiration of Tamils within a united Sri Lanka.
Referring to Bangladesh, Antony said the election of the present government in Dhaka was a cause for optimism for New Delhi.
On Nepal, the Defence Minister said the democratic forces in the country needed to work together to frame a new Constitution that would underline the country s emergence as a modern, prosperous and powerful nation.
Underlining the importance of the Indian Ocean region, he said with a rapidly growing economy, the dependence on the Ocean was increasing by the day.
"It is imperative for our Armed Forces to ensure that the sea lanes are not dominated by any one power to the exclusion of others, he said adding that the sea lanes for the country could easily become security threats.
Last year, piracy emerged as a major challenge for sea-borne traffic, off the coast of Somalia. Sea routes can be used to transport weapons of mass destruction and arms and ammunition by terrorists. Water-ways are used by terrorists to reach the hinterland, as was done by the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack , he said.
On the progress made on the issue of a Unified Command for the armed forces, the Defence Minister said that after initial resistance, the three services have realised the need to work together.
"There has been considerable progress in the last eight years. Initially there was resistance from three services but now they have realised the necessity of jointness because in the modern times just one service cannot protect the security of the nation and meet challenges," he said.
"That realisation is there. So, things are moving very fast and this conference is a turning point," he said.
When asked if the controversy on the issue of price of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov could have any negative impact on Indo-Russian defence relations, the Minister said, "Discussions are going on for Admiral Gorshkov.
As far as our defence relations with Russia are concerned, they are very cordial. There is no doubt about that."
The two-day conference is also being attended by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, Secretary Defence Production Pradip Kumar and Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister M Natarajan.
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