– Pro. Sanjay Dwivedi
Some thinker says that your best theory is useless if you do not put it into practice. This was also the case with the laws relating to our security concerns till a decade back. While the National Security Strategy formulated in 1947 has not yet been properly defined, the National Security Act, 1980 has been known to be used more against political opponents than security. All such laws made to keep the country safe from internal and external threats never succeeded in fulfilling the objectives for which they were created. Be it due to lack of sincere efforts or will, or both, the country has suffered a lot in the six decades since independence. Within the boundaries as well as on the boundaries.
A decade ago, ever since the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, it has shown in no time that it is in no mood to give up on the security of the country. In this sequence, the formation of an apex level Defense Planning Committee (DPC) headed by the National Security Advisor in the year 2018 has been a good beginning. It was constituted to formulate the National Security Policy and the National Security Strategy. According to the notification issued by the Government of India, apart from the national security strategy, the major objectives of the DPC include development of capability enhancement plan, working on various issues related to defense strategy and upgrading the defense production and eco-system in India.
The respect, dominance and power of a nation lies in how well it is able to deal with internal and external challenges and how safe it is from any possible threat. The great diplomat Chanakya had defined four categories of these challenges which proved to be a threat to the sovereignty of a nation. Internal threats, external threats, internal threats fueled by external support, and external threats fueled by internal support. Almost the same threats continue to raise their heads even today in the form of Naxalism, separatism, China-Pakistan border activities, terrorism, sleeper cells etc. Apart from these, there are many other security challenges in the new era, which are directly or indirectly related to national security. In these, many other issues like economic security, energy security, environmental security, cyber security have been included, whose wires are connected to each other from within.
But, as luck would have it, the year 2014 saw a sea change in the political landscape of India and the country got a strong and determined government led by one of the most powerful world leaders of the 21st century, Narendra Modi. And then things started changing rapidly in the country from the perspective of national security. We are seeing the results of Prime Minister’s foresight and untiring efforts in the form of qualitative changes in almost every field. If we compare with the situation a decade ago, today all the elements challenging the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India are seen helpless and trembling. While terrorism and anti-national activities from across the border have been given a befitting reply, the Naxalite/Left-backed separatist activities within the country have also been curbed.
Not only this, due to the wrong policies and neglectful attitude of the previous governments, we have got remarkable success in providing peaceful and acceptable solutions to the voices of discontent that have been brewing for decades within different parts of the country, especially some North Eastern states. Full credit for this goes to our efficient, capable and visionary leadership, which not only has the ability to take the right decisions at the right time, but also has the will to implement them with determination. Whether it is a matter of standing firmly against unilateral actions adversely affecting India’s security interests at the international level or changing the mindset and archaic thinking towards India in the new equations of power balances. Today, not only have we been successful in protecting our interests in a unipolar world, but the entire world is acknowledging India’s new strong and decisive role in this rapidly changing system. With our strictness and zero tolerance approach with special focus on India’s internal strength and security, we have been able to break India’s ‘soft state’ image at the international level.
With strategic clarity and the ability to take quick decisions, India has not only built its strength and edge on the military front, but has also made ample preparations to deal with current and future security challenges. These include development of infrastructure, capacity building etc. Rising above politics in national interest, we have formulated and implemented schemes with the help of unbiased professionals and experts. To accelerate development using infrastructure, we launched Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, under which 11,400 km of roads were built during 2019-20 and six bridges were inaugurated in border areas. In addition, dual-use infrastructure was developed to encourage civil-military cooperation. In coordination with Ministry of Defense and National Highways Authority of India, 29 stretches of identified highways were made usable as emergency air-ways. Seven advance landing grounds were prepared in 30 military airfields.
Similarly, we have accelerated our intelligence-based operations by developing an independent and coordinated national security apparatus and building an intelligence grid. Today, before apprehensions turn into reality, they are acted upon as soon as information is received. Terrorism has been tackled through better coordination among security agencies, systematic reforms and capacity building. If we talk about the ten years before Modi took over the reins of the country, we will find that between 2004 and 2014, there were 25 major terrorist attacks in the country, in which more than one thousand people died and about three thousand people were injured. But, since 2014, there has not been any major terrorist incident in civilian areas.
More than 100 terrorists were apprehended in a nationwide operation. Institutions providing financial assistance to them were banned and organizations like SIMI, JMB, SFJ, Islamic Front and Indian Mujahideen running anti-India activities in the country were broken their backbone by cutting off their financial sources. In addition, it was weakened by attacking the network of these organizations while expanding the support of friendly countries. It was a great success of our intelligence that we identified the Al Qaeda module well in time and did not allow it to take root in India. When the army was given the freedom to take decisions at the local level, their morale increased and their operations increased.
In this sequence, by establishing better intelligence-based coordination between the central forces and the state police, military and ideological campaigns against the Left-backed extremists and urban Naxalites running anti-India propaganda were demoralized and to weaken the propaganda, electricity was cut off in the affected areas. Efforts were made to bring them into the mainstream by expanding water, road, education, health facilities and infrastructure. Tripura Accord in 2019 in the restive North Eastern states, settlement of Tripura-Mizoram border dispute in January 2020, Assam Accord in the same year and peace was established in some districts of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh by removing AFSA.
If we talk about the security of the borders, we have dealt a severe blow to our traditional adversaries like China and Pakistan on the diplomatic, strategic and economic fronts. After our surgical strike in PoK after the Uri attack in 2016 and our Balakot air strike retaliation after the Pulwama attack in 2019, Pakistan has realized that this India is not the India that it used to fear from the howling of its nuclear bomb. , strictly abstained. Similarly, in dealing with challenges such as China’s provocative activities on LAC in 2014 and intrusion of 1500 Chinese soldiers in Doklam in 2017, we showed immense political will and diplomatic capability. This was the reason that China had to come on the backfoot.
Our international efforts and reforms in the defense sector have also played an important role behind our growing strength and influence. We have promoted international security cooperation by forming strategic partnerships with powerful nations like Britain, America. Helped Bhutan deal with China’s expansionist activities, resolved the long-standing border dispute while moving towards improving relations with Bangladesh. In order to make the defense sector more strong and agile, the National Security Council Secretariat has been restructured and institutionalized by practical allocation of roles and functions. Special attention is being paid to changes taking place in non-traditional security areas like science, technology, innovation, maritime security, economic security, climate change. This will strengthen the systems and structures related to external, internal, intelligence, cyber and military operations.
These are just a few of the myriad changes that we have seen taking place in the last decade. As a result of these, New India has emerged as a powerful nation, which does not compromise on its security and is capable of giving a befitting reply to challenges whether internal or external.
(The writer is Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.)
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