The Constitution of India provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to protect the states against internal disturbance and external aggression, and the states shall be responsible for maintaining police forces and securing public order. A large country, with nearly 23,000 km. of land and sea borders, India faces a host of internal, external and varied other serious security challenges. The contributors to this volume, almost all of whom are respected veterans of our three Defence Services have, on the basis of their long experiences, highlighted their concerns and pointed to the way forward.

A crucial issue emerges from the writings in this book: there is an urgent need for the enunciation of a holistic National Security Policy which will provide the doctrinal basis for determining the nature, scale, and management architecture of the civil and military armed forces, intelligence services, and the growing number of agencies which are engaged in strengthening and safeguarding India’s security. Besides, this book delineates the Centre–State arrangements for the management of pan-India security. This volume should be of interest to all those who have interest in the safeguarding of our national security.