India needs long-term strategic assessments

THE NATIONAL SECURITY SPHERE NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY DIVIDED INTO THE TACTICAL AND THE STRATEGIC, BUT BENEATH THESE MUST LIE A FOUNDATION FOR LONG-TERM ASSESSMENTS

- Bhashyam Kasturi

National security is all about risk taking. This ability determines the state of play of a nation's security at any given moment in time. India is no stranger to national security threats and the myriad challenges it faces require flexible policy-making. Does this have to manifest in a written national security strategy? Several experts have argued that India does indeed require this.

However, governments thus far have chosen not to articulate such a strategy in the public domain. It is assumed that whatever actions are taken to meet certain challenges, are done in the national interest and, therefore, need not follow any written or publicly articulated strategy. National security, undoubtedly, derives from national interests, and some of the latter stem from protecting constitutional values and preserving India's civilisational ethos. The present-day challenges to India have become much more diverse than these were at an earlier time and demand a review of the manner in which the nation responds to security challenges, both internal and external.