India Doesn't Believe In World Order Where Nations Deemed Superior: Rajnath

India does not believe in a world order in which a few countries are considered superior to others, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, adding that a global framework could be envisaged if security becomes a truly collective enterprise.

In a speech to the National Defence College, he also expressed concern about cyber warfare, claiming that it has increased the vulnerability of critical infrastructure.

Singh said, “I would like to emphasise that the conduct of our strategic policy should be moral and India does not believe in a world order in which a few are viewed as superior to others.”

“India's actions are guided by the essence of human equality and dignity, which is part of our ancient ethos and provides us with our political strength. Even our struggle for liberty was founded on the foundation of high moral values,” he said.

His remarks came amid growing concern about China's aggressive military posture along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and throughout the Indo-Pacific.

“We can think of creating a global order that is beneficial to all of us,” the minister said if security becomes a genuinely collective enterprise.

According to the minister, power generation and distribution infrastructure are becoming increasingly complex and must deal with such challenges effectively.

He added that the energy sector is one of the most vulnerable to cyber-attacks, but it is not the only one transportation, public sector services, telecommunications and critical manufacturing industries are also at risk. 

Singh emphasised that national security should not be viewed as a “zero-sum game,” but rather as a win-win situation for all. “We should not be guided by narrow self-interest, which is not beneficial in the long run, we should be guided by enlightened self-interest, which is sustainable and resilient to shocks,” he added. 

According to the defence minister, a strong and prosperous India will not be built at the expense of others, rather, India is here to assist other countries in realising their full potential.

“Our increasingly interconnected financial systems are also highly vulnerable. You are all aware that in February 2016, hackers attempted to steal USD 1 billion from Bangladesh's central bank. Even though most transactions were blocked, 101 million dollars vanished,” he said.

This served as a wake-up call to the financial world, indicating that cyber risks in the financial system had been grossly underestimated. Today, determining whether a major cyber-attack poses a threat to financial stability is a matter of when not if. Information warfare has the potential to undermine political stability, according to Singh.

“There is no way of knowing how much fake news and hate material will enter society via social media platforms. The organised use of social media and other online content generation platforms is being used to manipulate the public's opinion or perspective,” he said.

He also said that the use of information warfare was most visible during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Throughout the conflict, both sides have used social media to spread competing narratives about the war and portray the conflict on their terms.