NSA Ajit Doval explains why Indian civilisation is one of oldest and continuous

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called Greek conqueror Alexander’s visit to India as a ‘non-event’,

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday called the Indian civilisation as ‘one of the oldest and continuous civilisations’ which also has a vast expanse.

“One is its antiquity, that it is one of the oldest civilizations and probably human life had evolved and society had perfected itself to a very high… (degree). Now, who did it? Whether they were the original people or they came from outside, they may be biased about that, but they all concede that this is a civilisation of antiquity,” ANI quoted Doval as saying during his address at an event on the release of “History of Ancient India, a Volume 11 series” by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in New Delhi.

On the second attribute of Indian civilisation, the NSA said,”The second is that it is continuity. That is, if it started 4000 or 5000 years ago, it has been continuous till today. There is no disruption in that. So it was a continuity.”

“The third feature was its vast expanse. It was not a small hamlet that you find somewhere with a developed island or something like that. It is right from the river Oxus to probably Southeast Asia and others, where the footprints of the civilisation were very visible,” he added.

Calling Greek conqueror Alexander’s visit to India as a ‘non-event’, Doval said that it was a key event for the Western history.

“Now, the paradox is this, when you think about this expanse of 6000 or 8000 years of continuous history in such a vast area, the narrative that has been brought is that probably the first chapter about Indian history in any of the western districts, it starts with Alexander, that Alexander was the first…who discovered India, and it was the victory of the west over the east. He conquered India,” he added.

Doval noted that Alexander only came to the border of India into Jhelum and then was not able to proceed further.

“Actually, he only came to the border of India into Jhelum and then probably was not able to proceed further. And thereafter, that was the end of him,” he said.

“But the fact remains that the entire history of Western industry you found when the history of India, or the history of the West is narrated, is about the history of Alexander,” he added.

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