Incorrect to say India doesn't have a National Security Strategy: CDS

The Hindu

22-05-2025

Abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories would not have been possible without the elements — 'Policy, Processes and Organisational Structures' — that constitute the National Security Strategy (NSS), Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan wrote in his book, while stating that India doesn't have a written NSS but says it is 'incorrect' to say that India doesn't have one.
'Strategic analysts and political pundits in India and abroad often have been found stating that India does not have a national security strategy. That is incorrect and a myopic understanding of the issue. What we don't have is a written document called the NSS, which is published periodically by some Western nations,' Gen. Chauhan wrote in the book he authored, Ready, Relevant and Resurgent: A Blueprint for the Transformation of India's Military, which was released on Thursday (May 22, 2025).
'Israel, the most threatened nation on earth, does not have a written policy document/ NSS,' he wrote, while stating that on the contrary, Pakistan issued a written National Security Policy in 2022 and soon ran into economic problems, political instability, rift between the armed forces and citizens and problems on its western borders. 'They had the written document but lacked the organisational structures, processes and policies to secure the nation,' Gen. Chauhan remarked.
An apex level Defence Planning Committee (DPC) chaired by the National Security Adviser (NSA) was set up in 2018 which was to formulate the NSS and a National Defence Strategy (NDS) but there has been no update on the progress.
In the past, former Army Chief Gen. Manoj M. Naravane had said it was essential to have an NSS, NDS and a higher defence organisation in place and only then we can think of integrated theatre commands.
COVID-19 challenges
Gen. Chauhan said no nation could secure itself without a strategy in place. The important constituents of a strategy would be Policy, Processes and Organisational Structures. 'I believe that India has all these functioning efficiently. India encountered the challenges of COVID-19 from zero preparation level to a nation acting in unison to propagating 'Vaccine Maitri'.
Today, surgical strikes, multi-alignment, and Atmanirbharta are part of a strategy to secure the nation, the country's second CDS elaborated in the book, an excerpt of which was published on the news portal stratnewsglobal. It is possible because all organisational structures, processes and policies are in place, he said. 'The resounding success of G20 in the same manner promotes national interests, contributing to national security.'
Dwelling into the country's organisational structures responsible for national security, the book details that the National Security Council (NSC) is at the apex headed by the Prime Minister with the NSA as a Secretary. It oversees both internal and external security about conventional and non-conventional threats, military affairs, space, cyber and technology, Gen. Chauhan noted.
Further, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) functions under the aegis of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and is responsible for national security planning and coordination in the political, economic, energy and strategic arenas. It has three tiers. The processes are steered through various committees such as the Strategic Policy Group and DPC, both of which function under the chairmanship of the NSA. Other enabling committees include the Defence Acquisition Council, which is headed by the Defence Minister, and the Chiefs of Staff Committee to coordinate on the policy front for all tri-services military matters.