Academic Contribution to National Security Policy Formulation in India

Members of Parliament, press correspondents, interested University men and the attentive newspaper reading public in India, all agree that not enough information is available in easily assimilable form to enable a meaningful debate on matters pertaining to national security. It is one of the strange ironies of the situation that in spite of this criticism being voiced for well over a decade, and the country having gone through two major wars and a border skirmish, there has been no effort to study the reasons underlying this state of affairs, and to suggest concrete remedial steps. It is not merely a case of information being withheld by the government. Hundreds of parliamentary questions are being answered and further information provided in reply to supplementaries. Apart from the debate on Defence Ministry’s demand for grants during the budget session, there are adjournment motions, one hour and half hour debates on specific issues. The Ministry of Defence presents regularly an Annual Report on its activities to the Parliament, however unsatisfactory the form and contents of the report may appear to be tο different groups interested in national security matters.