India’s relationship with ASEAN is a central pillar of its Act East Policy, said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ON Tuesday at the 4^th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM Plus) in the Philippines capital Manila.

Addressing the meeting, she said ASEAN occupies pride of place in Asia’s institutional architecture. The centrality of ASEAN has served as an anchor of stability in the region. “For us in India, ASEAN’s continuance in this role is vitally important,” she said.

The Minister said “indeed, India’s relationship with the ASEAN is a central pillar of our Act East Policy. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noted, this is at the core of our dream of an Asian Century.

“Establishing this inclusive dialogue mechanism on defence and security issues under the aegis of ADMM Plus between ASEAN and its dialogue partners has laid down a strong foundation of trust and confidence,” she said.

“We remain concerned about the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies which has adversely impacted India’s national security and that of the entire region. It is important that North Korea’s proliferation linkages are investigated and those who have supported its nuclear and missile programme are held accountable,” she said.

Referring to terrorism and radicalisation, she said these “pose one of the most immediate and serious security challenges to our societies,” reiterating India’s zero tolerance for terrorism anywhere and under any circumstances.

The Defence Minister said terrorism is now a trans-national phenomena which requires strong collective action by all members of the global community. New developments in social media and cyberspace have expanded the threat, as these are exploited by terrorists to develop less visible but lethal ways and means of manipulating minds of the people.

“The transnational activism of terrorist groups, the spectre of returning foreign fighters and the conduct of irresponsible states that provide safe havens, funding and even encouragement to terrorist groups all need to be addressed together and comprehensively. Terrorism anywhere is a threat everywhere,” she said.

In an apparent reference to Pakistan, she said, “India has taken resolute measures to fight the scourge of terrorism from across its borders. We fully recognise the role of joint mechanisms with our partners and the role of international and regional forums in fighting this menace.”

Sitharaman said the global strategic and security situation is constantly evolving and has thrown up fresh and serious challenges. The defence and security scenario in the shared region has also witnessed significant changes recently and that  “our countries now need to simultaneously prepare for traditional (military) and non-traditional threats”.