India's Evolving National Security Agenda : Modi and Beyond Harsh V. Pant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to office in May 2014 calling for a robust response to national security issues. This volume aims to take stock of the Modi government's performance in the realm of national security across various policy domains and assesses the key issues which the new government will face after the 2019 parliamentary polls. It leads off from the principal challenges to India—long, disputed, and militarised borders with Pakistan and China and visible capability gaps vis-à -vis the ever-widening threat spectrum. It addresses India's ambitions as a maritime power and as the net security provider in the Indian Ocean. The government and the armed forces need to prepare themselves for these challenges. The volume also seeks to go beyond the traditional security framework and develop ideas around ‘new’ security challenges that confront India, including countering violent extremism online, environment, cyber and gender inclusivity. Harsh V. Pant is Director, Studies and Head of Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. He holds a joint appointment as Professor of International Relations in Defence Studies Department and the India Institute at King's College London. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; a Visiting Professor at the O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat; a Visiting Professor at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; a Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania; a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies, McGill University; and an Emerging Leaders Fellow at the Australia-India Institute, University of Melbourne.