Our Defence Policy Must Gear Up for a 3.5-Front Security Challenge

It's time to raise our defence budget and focus on R&D, space capabilities and private participation

- Sachchidanand Shukla

Tensions between India and Pakistan have reached a potential flashpoint with the horrific attack on civilians in Pahalgam in Kashmir. Bangladesh has also emerged as a point of concern lately, while China has been making aggressive border moves over the past 8–10 years. These have raised the spectre of a 3.5-front security nightmare for India (Pakistan plus Pakistan Occupied Kashmir-Jammu and Kashmir, China and Bangladesh).

Moreover, today's global geopolitical landscape is fraught with growing divisions and rising uncertainty. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza have far-reaching implications for the global geopolitical order. Several European countries have begun raising their defence spending after decades. A 176-year-old train factory in Gorlitz, Eastern Germany, for example, is slated to begin making Sherman tanks, signalling the country's intent to rearm itself. Japan too is looking to amend its pacifist constitution to give its military more teeth.

These trends mark a sharp departure from the post-World War II era and post-Berlin Wall global order, and could continue for decades into the future.

Is it any surprise that ‘State-based Armed Conflict’ was ranked as the top risk for 2025 in a recent global survey, with nearly a quarter of respondents anticipating a material global crisis?