China moving ahead, talking about temples & mosques will waste our time: Ex-Navy Chief Arun Prakash

China is moving ahead in areas like artificial intelligence and robotics and it would be a waste of time if India distracts itself by talking about temples and mosques, former Navy Chief Arun Prakash said on Sunday.

However, he expressed hope that the abrogation provision of Article 370 and the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development in the region.

"For our whole existence as an independent nation, we have seen and suffered from these fissures - linguistic, religious, caste etc. These conflicts have continued throughout our independent existence," said Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd.) while delivering Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture here.

"What we need to do is to try and tamp them rather than to exploit them...China is talking about artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning and all that. And if we are going to talk about temples and mosques and so on, then obviously we are going to waste time," he added.

Curious to know whether anyone from the 'Raghuvansha' (descendants of Lord Ram) was still residing in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court on Friday had put this query to 'Ram Lalla Virajman', the deity and one of the parties in the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

Prakash, who served as the chief of Naval staff from July 2004 to October 2006, said on Sunday, "It is in key interest of national security to ensure peace and tranquillity domestically before even looking outside."
Prakash said Sunday, "Our actual preparation should have been to ward off Chinese pressure. They don't have to fire a bullet. There are many other ways of pushing India. And if we prepare to counter China, then Pakistan would automatically be taken care of."
Talking about recent situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "One hopes that the recent abrogation of Article 370 and the changes in the status of erstwhile J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development."