India stands for rules-based maritime borders in Indo-Pacific: Rajnath

New delhi: India stands for rules-based maritime boundaries in the Indo-Pacific in which no nation, howsoever big, may be allowed to exclude others from its fair use, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday, amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region.

In his address to the heads of Asian Coast Guard agencies, the defence minister also called for effective collaboration among maritime nations to deal with challenges to maritime safety. Singh asserted that India, throughout history, has been a peace-loving society which has never invaded any foreign land and has always respected the territorial integrity of other countries,

while treating them as equal partners. He stressed that oceanic space should be respected as a global commons to benefit all humanity in an environmentally sustainable way. "We stand for open, free, rules-based maritime borders in Indo-Pacific, in which no nation, howsoever big, may be allowed to appropriate global common or exclude others from its fair use," he said.