Absence of written National Security Strategy doesn’t mean India doesn’t have one: CDS

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan explains the presence of an effective National Security Strategy despite lack of written document.

The absence of a written National Security Strategy (NSS) doesn’t mean that the country doesn’t have one, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday. He said if there was no policy, the country would not have been successful in revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, or carried out Uri and Balakot strikes.

“When we talk about an NSS, I believe it consists of policy, processes and practices to succeed. In our country, probably all three are addressed. The only thing missing is a written policy. I don’t know why people insist on that,” General Chauhan said at the launch of the book ‘Crafting a New Art of War’ authored by Lieutenant Colonel Gautam Das (Retd).

An apex-level Defence Planning Committee chaired by the National Security Advisor was set up in 2018 to formulate an NSS and a National Defence Strategy. But there has been no update on the progress.

“If there was no strategy behind it, how did we achieve our goal? Even the Balakot airstrike and the Uri strike, if there was no strategy, how did we do it? So, there is a strategy, but what is missing is probably a written document. And a written document actually doesn’t count,” General Chauhan said.

“People were saying there would be a bloodbath in case of revocation but nothing like that happened,” he said referring to the revocation of Article 370.

The CDS referred to how India successfully handled the COVID pandemic and exported vaccines in his address.