Understanding National Security

Год издания: 2012

Издательство: Flywell Publications

ISBN: 978-81-923277-2-3

National security for India from a military and economic point of view can be defined as the protection of India's land, air and sea boundaries along with the economic upliftment, through inclusive growth of its citizens. In India's case preservation of a democratic form of government, religious and linguistic freedom for its citizens and protection of their life and property from criminals and terrorists are the other main dimensions of national security.

National security strategy can thus be thought of as coordinating Foreign, Nuclear, Military, Financial and Internal Security policies to achieve the goals stated above1. For any average citizen the local police station, occasional newspaper articles and television discussions featuring national security experts are the main interfaces/touch points regarding national security. Many times the effects of policy decisions in the national security arena are not directly observable for an average citizen and this leads to the perception that national security is the sole responsibility of the armed forces and the police. Asia will probably become one of the major centres of wealth and power by the year 2030 with one present power (Japan) and two emerging powers (China and India) as the main dominant powers. India will probably become the most populous country in the world and may also have the largest/second largest Muslim population (including the second largest Shia population) in the world by the year 2030 if present demographic trend lines are extrapolated. How India manages its internal dynamics and its relations with the extant international order2 will determine what trajectory India takes in fulfilling its core national security objectives.

India has a vibrant strategic affairs community and as should be the case in a functioning democracy, there are divergent views on the approaches India needs to take to solve its national security challenges. Certain questions that elicit divergent views from the strategic community are: Should the Indian armed forces concentrate on power projection or on territorial defence or adopt a mixed posture? What should be the configuration of India's nuclear forces- Does India need a large thermonuclear arsenal complimented with Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles? How should India insulate its large Muslim population from the pernicious propaganda of Pan-Islamic organizations? How can the welfare, social status and counter terrorism/criminal investigation capabilities of the general police force (particularly the police constables) be enhanced in the most efficient manner? How should India design its economic policies so that it is able to generate jobs for the millions of Indian citizens in the 20-40 age brackets? How can India increase the percentage of its citizens who pay taxes so that funds for infrastructure development become available?

Understanding the various approaches to answering the above questions and presenting their advantages and disadvantages is one of the major endeavours of this book.