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26th June 2024 (15 Topics)

India needs the anchor of a national security strategy

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Context

India needs to adopt a comprehensive National Security Strategy (NSS) to effectively address its diverse security challenges. Without such a strategy, India's national security decisions remain fragmented and reactive.

Issues Surrounding the Lack of an NSS:

  • Strategic Disarray: India's national security decisions are often made in a fragmented manner, with various military services competing for resources without a unified strategic vision.
  • Reactive Policy Making: India’s current approach to national security is largely reactive, which is insufficient to address long-term strategic risks such as climate change, pandemics, and geopolitical tensions.
  • Opaque Decision-Making: Strategic decisions are often concentrated among a few individuals at the highest levels of government, lacking transparency and broader input.

Benefits of a Comprehensive NSS:

  • Holistic Threat Assessment: An NSS would require the government to conduct a thorough assessment of threats and opportunities, ensuring that long-term risks like China's naval expansion are systematically addressed.
  • Strategic Planning and Resource Allocation: It would provide a framework for long-term strategic planning, helping to prioritize military and economic investments, and avoid wasteful expenditures on projects with limited strategic value.
  • Enhanced Signaling and Diplomacy: An NSS would clarify India’s strategic intentions to both allies and adversaries, strengthening its position as a security provider in the Indian Ocean and improving diplomatic relations.

Implementation Challenges and Strategic Coordination:

  • Inter-Governmental Synchronization: An NSS would necessitate better coordination among various arms of the government, including defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence agencies, to ensure unified efforts towards national security goals.
  • Accountability and Transparency: Publishing an NSS would introduce accountability mechanisms, making the government’s strategic plans transparent to the public and ensuring bureaucratic adherence to political directives.
  • Strategic Blueprint: An NSS would provide a coherent strategic blueprint, guiding decisions on critical issues like the development of military capabilities and international partnerships, ensuring rational long-term growth.
UPSC Mains Question

Q. Discuss the importance of a National Security Strategy (NSS) for India in the context of contemporary global and regional security challenges. How can an NSS improve India’s strategic decision-making process?

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