India’s Immediate Neighbourhood and National Security (INAS)
India’s national security environment faces accentuated challenges from widening political differences over dealing with the Jammu and Kashmir situation in the aftermath of the revocation of its autonomous status, subsequent reorganization with Ladakh becoming a separate union terrority, and the targeted killings of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir and protests for statehood in Ladakh; the insurgency in the Northeast primarily driven by the desire to retain its unique tribal identity, autonomy in administrative status even as simmering differences between ethnic groups have turned violent in the region; Left-wing extremism in Central India violently targeting the state apparatus leading to challenges for governance. India’s diverse population enhances the complexity of maintaining national unity. Despite significant progress over the last seven decades since independence, the challenges of economic and social inequalities still exist. The advent of globalization has enabled cross border flows and the emergence of technology, particularly in the cyber space, has enhanced the flow of information across all strata of society. This has further complications for national security efforts as adversaries are trying to use these developments to control information and mislead the larger public. The diverse population in combination with existing internal security challenges as detailed above and external security challenges in the form of frayed peripheries on both the western and eastern borders represents a potent mix that, if skillfully manipulated by the use of technology, can cause significant public unrest internally. A closer scrutiny and in-depth analysis of the existing and emerging political, religious, economic, social and cultural schisms has become critical today.
These challenges are further enhanced with the support provided to local groups by external actors – Pakistan and China – involved in long standing territorial disputes with India. Pakistan continues to indulge in state sponsored terrorism through cross-border firing and infiltration across the line of control (LoC) using launch pads from its illegally occupied part of Jammu and Kashmir to engage in low intensity conflict. Simultaneously, China, unilaterally continues to disrupt peace and tranquility along the line of actual control (LAC) by attempting to change the existing status quo particularly in the Western sector adjacent to Ladakh as seen in the violent Galwan clash of 2020 leading to casualties on both sides for the first time since the 1970s; providing sanctuary to the Northeast insurgent leadership and making sustained efforts to enhance its strategic presence in Bhutan, as evidenced in the Doklam standoff with Indian troops, along the Chumbi valley which overlooks Siliguri corridor, the gateway between the Indian mainland and its northeast region; and ideological and material support, through enhanced coordination with like-minded actors in Nepal, to left-wing extremists. The growing inter-operability between Pakistan and China including in the defense, nuclear, space, cyber, economy, strategic, critical technology and maritime domains is also of increasing concern for India’s security. The withering of US led democracy and the rapid ascension of the Taliban in Afghanistan poses significant concerns over small arms proliferation, drugs trafficking and an increase in terrorism for India. The historical linkages characterized by trade and culture, between villages lying across the borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar adjoining India’s north-east region is also posing a significant challenge for securing national security amidst inflow of illegal immigration and refugees like the Rohingyas over the years.
In India’s immediate maritime neighbourhood, Sri Lanka’s strategic autonomy has been severely constrained by its massive financial debt to China almost compelling it to host Chinese military visits in particular in the maritime domain and lease its strategically located infrastructure like the Hambantota port and surrounding industrial zone. Maldives, presently led by the Mohammad Muizzu government, has on the back of the ‘India Out’ campaign successfully negotiated the withdrawal of Indian military presence from the island. President Muizzu has already made several overtures to China. Low lying islands in the Indian Ocean Region are facing security challenges posed by the changing environment. This presents a unique challenge for the predominant South Asian power, India, of accommodating refugees displaced by an environmental disaster from these countries. The Indo-Pacific region is also one of the most disaster-prone in the world. The advent and rapid surge of Covid leading to massive casualties has propelled healthcare with its related infrastructure and sanitation workers as frontline warriors in this fight even momentarily displacing the conventional frontline soldiers i.e., the defense forces and the police. Ensuring resilient supply chains for clean water, energy and nutritional food has also emerged as a significant priority for the Government. Hence, strengthening Indian understanding and developing deeper expertise of the immediate neighbourhood has become more important now than ever. Management of the land, air and maritime borders against traditional security challenges continues to remain an important national security priority.
