Defence & National Security of India : Concerns & Strategies

With a strength of over 1.3 million active personnel, India is worlds third largest military force. India was the largest importer of defence equipment in 2014 with Russia, Israel, France and the United States being the top foreign suppliers of military equipment. The Government of India has launched Make-in-India initiative to indigenise manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports, including defence imports and procurement. The beginning of the 21st century saw reorientation of India on the global stage from a regional role in the sub-continent to a major role in the Indian Ocean region stretching from Gulf of Aden to the Malacca Strait. Contemporary criticisms of the Indian military have drawn attention to several issues, such as obsolete equipment, lack of adequate ammunition, and inadequate research and development due to over-reliance on foreign imports. In the context of defence preparedness, national security means that a government should protect the state and its citizens against all kind of national crises through a variety of power projections such as political power, diplomacy, economic power, military might, and so on. Elements of national security include: (a) military security; (b) political security; (c) economic security; (d) environmental security; (e) security of energy and natural resources and (f) cyber security. National Security Council (NSC) of India is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Ministers office on matters of national security and strategic interest. The three-tiered structure of the NSC comprises of the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board and a Secretariat represented by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). This volume contains 10 research articles, authored by experts in the field, which provide deep insights into the defence and national security preparedness and concerns of India.