India’s Security Strategy

India has faced several challenges in its quest for security. A security strategy is defined as a document that discusses security challenges as well as the plan of a country or organisation to face these problems. India doesn’t have a specific document, such as a national security strategy. However, in 1999, the country saw the establishment of the National Security Council which discusses issues of security and possible solutions. India has four major components in its security strategy. The main aim of this strategy is to protect the nation’s sovereignty. 

India’s Security Strategy

• India has faced traditional (military) and non-traditional threats and security challenges that have emerged from both sides of the border, which is within the country borders as well as outside it. 
• The security strategy of India has 4 wide components that have been used from time to time in different combinations. 
• These components are: strengthening military capabilities, strengthening international norms and institutions, meeting security challenges within the country, and developing the economy. 

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Strengthening Military Capabilities:

India needs to focus on strengthening military capabilities as:  

• India has been facing security challenges from its neighbours, which is evident from the fact that the country has been involved in conflicts with its neighbours – Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965, 1971, and 1999; and China in 1962. 
• Various nuclear-armed countries also surround India in the South Asian region. 
• This is the reason that India took a step towards developing the economy and strengthening military capabilities by testing its first nuclear device in 1974. 
• In terms of safeguarding the national security of India, the Indian Government justified India’s decision to conduct another nuclear test in 1998. 
• For strengthening military capabilities, India took initiatives to bring about a universal, non-discriminatory, and non-proliferation regime, with respect to weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological, chemical). 

Strengthening International Norms and International Institutions: 

India has been focusing on strengthening international norms and institutions in order to protect its security interests. 

• The cause of Asian solidarity, disarmament, decolonization, and the UN as a forum (where international conflicts could be settled) was supported by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 
• Apart from this, India has also argued for an equitable NIEO (New International Economic Order).
• In the era of alliances i.e., the cold war, India used non-alignment to maintain peace in the country.
• India as a nation has also signed and approved the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that provides a roadmap as to how the economy can reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in the environment to keep a check on global warming. 
• In support of cooperative security initiatives, India has sent its troops abroad on UN peacekeeping missions.

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Meeting Security Challenges Within the Country: 

• India has been facing security challenges for a long time. From areas such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab, Kashmir, etc. several groups of militants have sought to break India. 
• India is facing security threats in the form of the prevalent drugs and narcotics abuse, as well as terrorism.
• Information warfare is a new problem that has cropped up in the country. This is a state of manipulation of information that is trusted to sources such as mobile phones. 
• To preserve the national unity of the country, India has adopted a democratic political system that allows different communities and groups of people to freely share their political power and express their grievances.

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Developing the Economy: 

India has always focused on developing the economy in a fashion that words like poverty, misery, and economic inequalities stop existing here. 

• But the attempts of leaders have not succeeded yet as India is still a very huge and hazardously over-populated country.
• The country faces challenges such as unemployment, high population, as well as a wide gap between the rich and the poor.
• Education is also seen as a front where improvements need to be made for enhancement of human capital.
• However, the democracy in the way our country runs has given a voice to poor and relatively underprivileged classes as they can speak about their issues and shortcomings in public and seek a resolution from higher levels. 
• Initiatives such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme have been aimed at improving the situation of economic development.
• During the pandemic, the Indian government worked to ensure that food and money are available to all parts of the nation.
• Steps such as developing textile parks to increase employment in the country are also being worked on to improve the situation of unemployment. 

Conclusion

The Indian subcontinent faces several challenges as a developing nation. One of these challenges is the nation’s security in four main areas: the military, economy, international standing, and internal threats. The country does not have a specific document for a security strategy, but has established a National Security Council to discuss threats to the nation’s security. The military capabilities of India need to be improved for protecting itself from nations such as Pakistan. The country has also worked on its international standing by taking part in organisations and movements such as the Non-Alignment Movement. Along with this, internal threats such as militant groups have been observed in India that need to be dealt with to ensure security within the nation itself. The economic development of India will lead to further security of the people of the nation.