Rajnath Singh’s veiled attack on China at Visakhapatnam’s commissioning

TIL Desk/National/Mumbai/ Taking a veiled dig at China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said ‘some irresponsible nations’ for the sake of their narrow partisan interests and hegemonic tendencies are coming up with inappropriate interpretations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is a matter of concern that UNCLOS is being repeatedly weakened by arbitrary interpretation of its definition by some nations, Singh said, after commissioning of Indian Navy’s destroyer Visakhapatnam in Mumbai.

As a responsible maritime stakeholder, India supports consensus-based principles and a peaceful, open, rule-based stable maritime order, Singh said. India envisions a rule-based Indo-Pacific, with freedom of navigation, free trade and universal values, in which the interests of all the participating countries are protected, he added.

Singh underscored the importance of a rule-based freedom of navigation and security of sea lanes in the present era of globalisation to ensure stability, economic progress and development of the world. The UNCLOS 1982 specifies about any country’s territorial waters, exclusive economic zone and good order at sea, he said. “The arbitrary interpretations create obstacles in the path of a rule-based maritime order,” he said.