Sovereignty of Territory and Beyond: A Fresh Perspective

The territory is often viewed as the ultimate object of national security. Centralising it to drive military thinking and its ensuing concepts and capabilities could actually prove counterproductive to the very foundation of the object of ‘National Security’. There is a need to view national security through a wider and deeper prism, and appreciate it beyond traditional geographical markers. A rational and more comprehensive perspective of ‘Territory’ through the prism of Political Object [not the objective], Strategy, and Character of Modern Battlefield could provide an alternative and progressive approach. The political object in the Indian context, ‘to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India’ extracted from Article 51A of the Constitution of India reflects a more open and a domain agnostic tenor. Similarly, the nature of strategy and contours of modern battlefield when examined holistically indicate an all-domain character and induce a need for more comprehensive involvement of relatively ubiquitous domains such as the Air, Space, and Information. Therefore, to prevail in the evolving security environment, a fundamental shift in thought that drives ‘Military to focus on an all-domain sovereignty and integrity that is more comprehensive, and guarantees a credible defence of the country’ emerges as the ultimate imperative.