PANJIM: Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a three-day conference of Space Partnership which is organized by Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS) in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. This SAGAR(Security And Growth for All in the Region) Discourse 2.0 is intended to discuss and deliberate upon how space will become a very important component for the very existence for human race and how issues related to space can be sorted out in future.
Numbers of representatives from about 20 different countries, including Israel, Canada etc, are participating in this conference which has been held for the second time in Goa consecutively. Last year about 22 countries participated in the same event which deliberated on sea, ocean and water.
Be it satellite for transmission of mobile signals, cyber security, climate and weather forecast, surveillance, etc space will play a major role in the ever fast changing technology of the world. Former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr Kiran Kumar while addressing the gathering said that in future space will be used for space tourism and there will be a beeline for getting orbit in space.
“Internationally this shift is moving at a very fast pace. Earlier, only government used to pursue these issues, however lately, even private players in many countries are being allowed to play their business role and legislations are being changed to accommodate them. There is no longer a monopoly of government agencies. The issue in future will be how United Nations will manage this complex allotment and code of conducts when space becomes a space for competition. There are over 1800 satellites active in the orbit of the space now,” said Dr Kiran Kumar.
While declaring this conference open, the Chief Guest and Vice President of India, Mr Venkaiah Naidu made it clear that he was here to learn as he is not an expert on this subject said that, “We have the culture of share and care and India believes in it. Space is something which should be used for the benefit of the human race. Also, we need to address issues which concerns people directly. For example, we need to have home grown food security system and one cannot depend on imported food and I believe that instant food is leading to constant disease. Issues like usage of solar energy and water conservation and its challenges are growing rapidly and we need to discuss it. I am happy Prime Minister Modi is working very hard on these issues.”
The Vice President further warned that due to lifestyle changes there are many problems which people are now facing. “Spirituality is the need of the hour. I am not talking in terms of religion. If there is tension then there cannot be attention. We must pursue spirituality and be aware of the lifestyle changes which has brought in into our systems. We need to love and respect the nature,” added Mr Naidu.
The Governor of Goa, MrsMridula Sinha while speaking at the event said that, “this conference will give a new yardstick to the nation which will help us in the future, especially in the arena of space. I am feeling proud to be a part of this event which has been organized by FINS. For the globe the three components have become very important – time, security and development. This security issue has now spread in space too and India can lead in this field too as it is important to protect the space and our Prime Minister Mr Modi has taken this step by announcing his commitment for security and growth for all in the region (SAGAR). I believe that these complex issues will be discussed in the land of Goa and will help the nation to take it forward.”
Others who spoke during this inaugural session were, Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar (retd), President of FINS, Dr Prabhakaran Paleri, convenor of SAGAR Discourse 2.0 and Advocate Bal Desai, General Secretary of FINS who proposed the vote of thanks.
