‘Without growth... we will be constrained
in our ability to defend national security’
Until recently, we took a compartmentalised view
of national security. Each threat to national security was neatly fitted into
one compartment. The first, of course, was a war with Pakistan. That was fitted
into a compartment and was meant to be deterred, or defended, through the might
of our armed forces. A war with China was, and remains, unthinkable, and
therefore that threat was fitted into another compartment and reserved to be
dealt with through a mixture of engagement, diplomacy, trade and positioning of
adequate forces along the borders. Beyond Pakistan and China, we did not
perceive any external threat to our security. Other threats, such as communal
conflicts, terrorism, Naxalism or Maoist violence, drug peddling and fake
Indian currency notes were bundled together under the label, "threats to
internal security" and were left to the ministry of home affairs. Some
threats were not acknowledged as threats to national security and these
included energy security, food security and pandemics...
A close examination of the threats to national
security will reveal that each one of them is connected to one or more other
threats. For example, the threat of terrorism is connected to the threat of
proliferation of arms, including weapons of mass destruction. The threat to the
security of our sea-lanes is connected to the threat to energy security. Low
intensity conflicts have a direct bearing on social cohesion. Technology
security will be the key to building new institutions. Natural disasters,
especially those caused by climate change, can wreck food security. Pandemics
and diseases, if uncontrolled, can diminish our capacity to defend the borders
against our adversaries, or to defeat militants within the country. National
security is, therefore, caught in a complex spider's web and unless we
recognise that each strand of this web is connected to other strands, we would
not be able to do justice to our fundamental obligation to protect and defend
the security of the nation.
Defending and promoting national security stands
on three important pillars: first, human resources; second, science and
technology; and third, money. I have placed money last, not because it is the
least important, but because it is the most important pillar of national
security. Without money, we cannot nurture and build our human resources. We
need schools, colleges, universities, libraries, laboratories, skills
development institutions and, above all, highly qualified teachers...
Let me turn to science and technology. Every
country that has moved up to the level of middle income country or a developed
country has intensively promoted and heavily relied upon science and
technology... None of the threats to national security can be effectively
countered unless we embrace science and technology and impart instruction in
science and technology, beginning at the school level...
The last of the three pillars is money. It is
also the pillar that will support the first two pillars. Money comes out of
growth... In our own times, we have seen the difference between the period when
the Indian economy was on a high growth path and the period when there has been
a noticeable slowdown. In the former phase (2004-08), we were able to provide
for virtually everything that we desired, but also for exceptional items of
expenditure such as the agricultural loan waiver scheme... When there is a
slowdown, the consequence is the exact opposite... The medium-term response
will be to contain expenditure, but that has its own consequences. A cut-back
on public expenditure will further slow down the economy. It will also curtail
the number of jobs that are created. A cut-back on social welfare will hurt the
poor: less money for education or health care will deny, to many more people,
access to basic education or basic health facilities. And, finally, a cut-back
on expenditure on defence or on the police forces will severely compromise our
defence and security preparedness and diminish our capacity to meet the
challenges to national security.
It is a self-evident truth that growth is the
key for greater public welfare and greater security. Yet, we adopt a disdainful
attitude to growth... it is only sustained growth that gives as a chance to
tune the growth model in favour of inclusive development. Without growth, there
will be neither development nor inclusiveness... If we do not have sustained
high growth over a long period of time, we will be, forever, an undernourished,
undereducated, underprovided and underperforming nation... We will also be
constrained in our ability to defend national security against both external
and internal threats.
Today, we have a choice. We have a choice
between becoming the third-largest economy of the world and a middle income
country, or becoming one of the largest economies of the world that muddles
along with the bulk of its people trapped in a life of low income, poor
quality, high morbidity and great inequality. Needless to say, the two models
of India will have very different consequences for national security. The first
model will make India a secure nation, capable of defending itself, and a force
of peace in the neighbourhood and elsewhere. The second model will leave the
country exposed to every kind of threat to which will be added internal
conflicts, and India will be viewed as a strife-torn country that is a threat
to the peace and progress of the world and, in particular, Asia... Will India
embrace the twin goals of prosperity and security?
No comments:
Post a Comment