National Security Strategy

National Security Strategy

News: After years of deliberations in the military and strategic community, India has kickstarted the process of bringing in a National Security Strategy.

What is a National Security Strategy?
• A National Security Strategy document outlines the country’s security objectives, and the ways to be adopted to achieve these.
• Updated periodically, it defines traditional, non-traditional threats and opportunities while introducing accountability of agencies tasked with the implementation of such responsibilities.
• In a nutshell, a national security strategy would guide the military as well as critical defence and security reforms with strategic implications, providing a holistic view of the overall national security, the threats and the roadmap to address them.

Which countries have a National Security Strategy?
• USA, China, Russia, UK

What is the need of National Security Strategy?
• As said by Former Army Chief General NC Vij (retd) had written in a paper in 2018 that the only political direction to the Armed Forces in existence is Raksha Mantri’s operational Directive of 2009. “It is now dated and hence needs to be revised,”.
• Some experts have also highlighted that major military reforms should ideally flow from a national security strategy.
• To address the Two-Front threat posed by China and Pakistan.
• An uncertain Neighborhood - Afghanistan’ Taliban regime, Pakistan’s gradual inching towards becoming a ‘failed state’, Myanmar peoples’ nascent movement for democracy, Maldives recent political change and Sri Lanka’s vulnerability are all symptomatic of an unstable and uncertain security environment in the Southern Asian region.
• India needs an NSS to ramp up the pace of military modernization and bring theater commands.
• Information warfare is another emerging threat through which, nation-states, non-state actors, individual terrorists and even disgruntled elements within a state can play havoc with a nation’s telecom, banking, stock exchanges, power grids, besides military communications and networks.
• NSS is likely to strengthen our Defence Indigenization initiatives.

Way Forward
• India’s journey towards formulating its National Security Strategy marks a significant milestone in its quest for a well-defined and coordinated approach to security.