The case for India’s security doctrine

The fourth meeting of senior officials who are responsible for national security, intelligence gathering and overall supervision of strategic and security aspects of their respective countries, euphemistically called ‘spy chiefs’, was recently held in New Delhi.

It was attended by 20-odd high-profile officials including the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. The chiefs of the Five Eyes (FVEY) countries – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US – were present. The Director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) Daniel Rogers who till recently served as Deputy National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) to the Prime Minister attended the meeting – this is seen as an attempt to reset Canada’s ties with New Delhi after the freeze in bilateral relations over the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case.

The Anglosphere intelligence alliance of FVEY played a significant role in alleging New Delhi’s hand in the elimination of individuals inimical to India’s security interests through extra-territorial operations. All of these allegations were fiercely contested by New Delhi. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is understood to have raised concerns such as the Five Eyes countries being used by anti-India forces and outfits.

First held in April 2022, the intelligence chiefs’ conference jointly organised by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) is believed to have been inspired by the annual Munich Security Conference. Launched in 1963 with transatlantic and European roots, the Munich Security Conference embraces a comprehensive definition of security, encompassing not only traditional national or military security, but also taking into account, among others, the economic, environmental and human dimensions of security. The Munich Security Conference this year extensively debated the merits and demerits of the emerging trend of multipolarisation. Its report pointed to recent trends indicating the negative effects of greater multipolarity and growing divides between major powers that hinder joint approaches to global crises and threats.

In a highly globalised world, the geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics do not offer us the comfort to overlook the complex and integrated threats to global and national security. India has emerged as a leading advocate for insulating global commons from hegemonic forces and rogue states in the larger interest of a free, just, and inclusive world order. In this context, it is all the more important for the agencies responsible to supervise the national security apparatus to evolve a strong institutional framework for national security through a robust national security doctrine.

Mutually beneficial economic, civilian, and military alliances, structured understandings with allies and a regional and sectoral (land, sea, and space) security umbrella are no longer divorced from the overall national security policy. Hence a document outlining the standard operating procedures will give more clarity, and teeth, to the executive and legislative wings of the government.

It is not unusual for heads of governments, especially in the US, to announce national security and strategy policy framework after assuming office. At times, these policies vary from those adopted by previous dispensations, but the overall focus remains on the template of national interest and security.

The need for a national security framework prompted several governments in the past to explore the possibilities in diverse ways but not in an exhaustive, comprehensive manner. The National Security Act of 1980 is more or less a law granting rights to the governments to detain any person to prevent him or her from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India.

In November 1998, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government under the prime ministership of Atal Behari Vajpayee constituted the National Security Council with three tiers to oversee political, economic, security, and energy security issues especially with strategic importance. This high-level security organisation includes the NSA, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), deputy national security advisors, ministers of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, and Finance, and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog mandated to advise the Prime Minister. The Naresh Chandra Task Force on National Security set up by the UPA government in 2011 submitted its report in 2012 which is yet to be made public.

This is an appropriate time for the government to seriously consider setting up a time-bound task force to frame a comprehensive national security doctrine, on the lines of the nuclear doctrine, and begin engaging with other global security institutions.