Lack of jobs, unsettled borders are issues India has to fix for Viksit Bharat: Army vice chief

Surat: Lack of adequate employment opportunities, unsettled borders, and its position in the human development index are some of the weaknesses India needs to address to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lt General N S Raja Subramani has said.

Speaking on the topic of National Security and Bharat @ 2047 at Surat LitFest 2025 on Friday, Lt Gen Subramani said the India of 2047 should have integrated its response mechanism, resolved its internal problems in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, as well as left-wing extremism (LWE) to ensure social and communal harmony.

"Our strengths are our geographical location, youth, stable economic growth, and service sectors — Pharma and IT — which are progressing. What are our weaknesses? First, environmental change; second, our manufacturing sector is not strong; third, we do not have that many employment opportunities. Our border, whether with China or Pakistan, is not yet developed. We need to improve the human development index," he said.

Lt Gen Subramani said, "It is our responsibility to work on the internal conflicts in the society, reduce tensions, and move forward towards development. Only then will internal security also improve." He said that by 2047, India's response mechanism should be integrated, and internal problems would have to be solved.

Issues related to J&K, Manipur, Nepal, and the LWE would have to be resolved so that there is social and communal harmony and India becomes developed by 2047, he said.

Lt Gen Subramani said economic security is also vital, and India can never progress if national and economic security are not in unison.

He said external and internal security cannot be achieved without economic security, and environmental, technological, human and energy security are all linked.

The Vice Chief of Army Staff said the economy is being used as a weapon today. Also, the world is being divided into various blocks and countries are going against globalisation and forming regional blocks.

India is also influenced by competition between the US and China, conflicts the world over, and hybrid, economic and cyber warfare — the war of narrative through social media — are affecting everyone.

"When we form a strategy, superpowers such as the US and China and Russia are important for us," he said.

As far as external security is concerned, India shares a long, unsettled border with China, which has given rise to tension between the two countries, he said.

"You must have heard about our discussions with China in October-November 2024, due to which the tension between us after the 2020 Galwan war has reduced a bit, and China has left the region. Currently, the situation is nearly normal but also sensitive," Lt Gen Subramani said.

He said China will try to increase its influence on India's strategic space — neighbours like Bangladesh and Myanmar.

As far as external security is concerned, India's border areas need to be fully developed by 2047, he said.

"Our relations with Pakistan and China are good, J&K and Northeast are integrated, we maintain our dominance over the Indian Ocean region, and we manage our security using tech-oriented solutions," he said.

As far as internal security is concerned, Lt Gen Subramania said the situation in J&K has become normal after Article 370 and recent elections with more than 60 per cent voter turnout.

"Now, we have an elected government there. Even when we have sporadic terrorist incidents, the Army, CAPF, police and state administration have controlled the situation. As far as the Northeast is concerned, you know about the violence in Manipur. Right now, the situation is under control. And we hope that it will take time, but we will control the situation as soon as possible," he said.

The CRPF and internal security forces have controlled LWE well, and we have seen maximum development in the red corridor, he said.

Lt Gen Subramani said that in 2047, India should be the kind of country people from all over the world would want to live in, and the economy should be more than $30 trillion.

"We should have internal peace in every way and should be a leader in the sphere of environmental, energy, human and technological security," he said.