On the occasion of the National Technology Day celebration in Mumbai Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon, National Security Advisor has emphasised that the country should stay abreast of critical technologies to remain secured.  Delivering the key note address at a function organized by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mr. Menon said the Information Communication Technology (ICT) has made an enormous difference to the way in which we look at and deal with our security. “It has created a a new domain of contention namely cyber space, where war, espionage, surveillance, control and all the traditional security functions, activities and crimes take place,” he said.  

Mr Menon also highlighted that ICT has brought power to non-state actors and individuals, to small groups such as terrorists. He further said, “the cocktail of social media, 24-hour television, NGOs and Special Forces create a virtual reality which soon has effects in the real world.  These are not just law and order problems, and they are not amendable to the traditional responses that states are accustomed to”. 

Stating that terrorism is technologically enabled and knows no boundaries, Mr. Shivshankar Menon said that internet has provided Jehadi and other terrorists, separatists and Left Wing Extremists with an effective means of recruitment, propaganda and communication.  “There is a risk that we are ceding this space to our enemies, and as a consequence, also losing the battle for the minds of the young, who depend increasingly on the internet for their information and opinion” he observed.

Having underlined the role played by technology and its effect on national security environment, Mr. Menon said the  State should show the same quickness in learning and adopting these technologies that its enemies have shown in the recent past.  He said “ICT that that empowers small groups is also available to and should be used by the state for intelligence, surveillance and counter-terrorism”.

Mr Menon said, the Government is in the process of putting in place the capabilities and the systems in India to deal with the realities of the new world. He said we have reached a stage of advancement in the fields of nuclear and space technology, but are yet to show the same capacity or policy will in telecommunication, civil aviation, aerospace and other technologies of the future.  The National Security Advisor called for channelizing our national capabilities in a coordinated effort to enhance our national security.

Earlier, Mr. Menon inaugurated an exhibition of Radioactive waste Management organized by the Nuclear Recycle Group and Scientific Resource Division at the BARC Complex.

PIBMUM/MD/AS