Jaipur, March 23: India has to take up maritime security as a vital issue to protect its economic and trade interests in the long-term, Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar said here today.India needs to have an actual and realistic maritime vision instead of a "continental focus", he said speaking on security challenges in the new millennium at the University of Rajasthan.The "continental era" has gone and one does not fight for capturing territory. Now the fight is for resources and India has the most vital waterways in the world, he said."Our geographic location is so important that we shall have to focus our security attention on maritime", he said.He said India had not paid much attention to this long-term challenge because of the immediate security threat from across the border."But we shall have to shift our focus as 98 per cent of Indian trade is transacted through sea routes and our entire oil base resources come through the sea", he said. "If tomorrow we are unable to protect our maritime zone, the country would be chocked economically."He said almost 3,000 ships passed through very close to Indian maritime zone every day and unlike land territories, oceans were open as anyone can operate in open sea highways.Admiral Sushil Kumar said India was conscious of the growing interest of extra-regional powers in the Indian ocean."Strategically it is not good for us if extra-regional powers make bases in the Indian ocean", he said but added it it largely depended on the countries who allowed these powers to use their territories as bases.On terrorism in Kashmir, the Navy Chief said the militant movement had now turned into a ``Taliban movement or mercenery movement".He praised the tremendous "political restraint, diplomatic flexibility and statesmanship" of the country's leaders during the Kargil conflict which brought the country "prestige in those difficult days".He said the Indian Navy played a vital role in sealing seaward exit at the height of incursions.He defended the ethos and orientation of the services personnel in society saying "men of armed forces are not civilians in uniform".They have separate ethos and different sets of circumstances as they have to perform a duty like no other in the society, Sushil Kumar, who released a book `military and society' by Sushma Sood and Maj Gen S B L Kapoor, said.
