Chances of Sino-India war 'very little', says NSA

The chances of India and China going to a war are "very very little" as 8000 years of statecraft is good enough to take care of that problem, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said in New Delhi on Monday.

"I think very very very little. I assume 8000 years of statecraft is good enough to take care of that problem," he said while replying to a question at a security conference organised by the ASPEN Institute in the national capital.

Referring to the recently-started maritime security dialogue between India and China, Menon said this indicates the growing understanding between them.

Asked whether India is alarmed by Chinese naval power, Menon said "let me tell you, we started a maritime security dialogue with China last year. I think that is the answer."

The NSA also said all the nations in Western Pacific have an interest in keeping the sea lanes open and accessible to trade.

"From Suez to Western Pacific, China, India and Japan, we all have an interest in contributing and making sure that the sea lanes remain open," he said.

Addressing the gathering on the issue of growing concerns over security, he said all the nations are faced with the challenge of growing security expectations but declining ability to meet them.

“We are in the age of heightened expectations... Previous generation took the security for granted. Today, we even expect government to fix weather... You have rising expectations and much broader definition of security (but) the ability of traditional provider of security i.e. state, to meet this is declining," he said.

Menon underlined that even climate change is now considered as an important aspect of international peace and security.

"A few years ago, a resolution was introduced (in the UN) saying that climate change is the threat to international peace and security. It is and it will change our security calculus. But whether the Security Council could do anything about it, I have my doubts," he said.

He advocated new partnerships between nations and governments to address the rising concerns of security.

"I think the only way of answering this and ensuring this is finding new partnerships between countries, between governments and businesses and civil societies, otherwise there is no way we are going to be able to meet these challenges," Menon said.

He exhorted emerging economies to take lead in the process.

"To my mind the emerging economies need to take the lead in this because they are potentially the most affected by a resource constraint," he said.