On 2 June 2006, India's Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, addressed the Second Plenary Session of the IISS Shangri-La dialogue held from 2-4 June 2006 in Singapore. He spoke on 'India: A Rising Global Player'.
In his address, Mr Mukherjee recalled a comment by the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to India's Rajiv Gandhi that there could be no Asia-Pacific century without both India and China as important elements. India's emergence on the global stage, Mukherjee said, 'will have a far-reaching impact on the international economy, politics, and security. In each of these areas, india is poised to play an increasingly larger role'. Reform of the world's institutions should 'accomodate India's capabilities and political-intellectual contributions'. It was essential that the United Nations Security Council included permanent members from Africa and Asia, and India was pursuing its candidacy.
Noting that more than half of India's trade passed through the Malacca Straits, Mukherjee expressed particular interest in strengthened regional cooperation on maritime security. He welcomed the joint Compulsory Pilotage initiative of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and offered India's assistance to the project 'in whatever capacity is deemed suitable'. India was joining the Container Security Initiative and the Indian Navy had initiated several maritime security and capacity building measures.
