‘India would have progressed at faster pace if…’: NSA Ajit Doval

National security advisor Ajit Doval on Friday said that India would have progressed at a much faster pace if the borders had been more secured, defined and not in an ‘adversarial dispossesion’.

“In the foreseeable future, I don’t think our borders are going to be as secure as we will require for our fast economic growth. So, the responsibility on border guarding forces has become very, very heavy. They have got to remain on alert 24X7 in perpetuity. They have got to see that our national interests and country are protected,” Doval was quoted by PTI as saying during his address at the Rustamji Memorial Lecture organised by the Border Security Force (BSF) on its 21st investiture ceremony.

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Doval added,”Jameen par jo kabja hai wo apna hai, baki to sab adalat aur kachehri ka kaam hai, usse farak nahi padta (The land which is in our possession is ours, the rest is the matter of courts and that is immaterial).”

The NSA asserted that the government paid very high attention to border security in the last 10 years and the country’s “comprehensive national power has grown immensely”.

The national security advisor said India is changing very fast and, in the next 10 years, “we will be a USD 10 trillion economy and the third largest economy” that he called a “major achievement”.

Doval added that the country will have one of the largest workforces and will be a hub of high-technology artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing and various other areas of defence and security manufacturing.

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“The country, which was an importer of arms, exported USD 2.5 billion worth of arms until March 31, emerging as a big exporter because of the government’s policy of self-reliance and Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Doval added.

“In this changing India, prosperity guarantees security to some extent and increases vulnerability in much larger areas,” he said.