Summaries of important Editorials:

National security strategy for India:

Context: There have been several attempts at formulating a national security strategy for India. According to some accounts, the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) had formulated draft national security strategy documents on four different occasions and presented them to successive governments, but the political class wouldn’t bite. There has been a lingering worry in the minds of the politicians about a potential commitment trap if a national security strategy were to be put on paper.

Why do we need a National Security Strategy?

• The National Security Council (NSC) set up in 1998 almost never meets, primarily because it is an advisory body, with the Cabinet Committee on Security being the executive body.
• Over the years, the NSA’s powers have increased, even though he is not accountable to Parliament. Even though the NSA plays a vital role in national security, he has no legal powers as per the government’s allocation of business rules.

Immediate reforms:

• NSC should be made more useful. For this, the government’s allocation of business rules should be amended to give more powers to the NSC and its subordinate organisations, such as the Strategic Policy Group.
• The job of the National Security Adviser needs to be reimagined. The K.C. Pant Task Force in the late 1990s had recommended the creation of an NSA with the rank of a Cabinet Minister.

The Hooda document:

It is a comprehensive national security strategy document prepared  after internal consultations. The document was prepared in less than two months and in consultation with six key core group members and many domain experts. The guiding philosophy of the document is enshrined in the following sentence: “This strategy recognises the centrality of our people. We cannot achieve true security if large sections of our population are faced with discrimination, inequality, lack of opportunities, and buffeted by the risks of climate change, technology disruption, and water and energy scarcity.”

Key recommendations:

• On the issue of military jointmanship, it recommends that “the three services should undertake a comprehensive review of their current and future force structures to transform the army, navy and air force into an integrated warfighting force.”
• It argues that it would take “a cultural change in the way the DRDO is currently operating” to improve domestic defence production.
• It seeks to set up a Defence Cyber Agency.
• It highlights the need to initiate structured programmes that bring together civil society members, family groups, educationists, religious teachers and even surrendered terrorists in an effort to roll back radicalisation.