National Security Law has been debated since the early 1990s; however, within the Indian context, this book is the first of its kind and approaches the subject with an interdisciplinary approach transcending various fields of study including law, politics, economics, society, and security. The authors argue for India to have a national security policy by enumerating the challenges India faces and analyzing whether the current international law framework contributes to the protection of India's interests. In devising a strategy, India should adopt a Janus-faced to assert its position in key areas of global concern, while simultaneously focusing on tailor-made theories to address matters of internal concern. The narrative of India emerging as a superpower is a distant dream considering its limitations in addressing various transnational organized crimes due to the region's geopolitical situation. This work clarifies India's foreign policy paradigm shift since independence, from being a third-world non-aligned champion during its nascent stage to using international law language to emphasize its relative power position in the region.
India, as explained in the Introduction, is “fighting ‘mini-state syndrome’ and asserting to be a major power”, if not a superpower. Having a comprehensive intelligence framework backed by law and high-end technology will be useful wherein autonomy and accountability of the intelligence agencies go hand-in-hand. A structured space program fitting both security and commercial requirements would be beneficial. From the natural resources preservation and water security angle, it is imperative for India to re-assess its sustainable use, sustainable development, and conservation, taking into account its long-term goal towards maximization of its available resources. Being a responsible peaceful nuclear-advanced country, one of the chapters analyzes how India could revisit the nuclear exceptionalism approach to attain a common nuclear knowledge management network with limited transparency. To enable India to shift from the world's largest arms importer to a self-sufficient defence developer, it is suggested that India engages with private players in defence manufacturing through various projects that may be ancillary to sovereign functions.
To address the refugee issue, it is again argued that the current refugee management strategies should be reassessed in order to curtail terrorist attacks on its civilian and military populations. Hence, one of the chapters puts forth a justification for the use of force for self-defence based on necessity and proportionality. There is a need for India to spearhead the anti-terrorism movement, at least at the regional level (for example, through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), considering minimal attention is being paid to its draft comprehensive convention against international terrorism (A/59/894). One of the chapters highlights the need to have a balanced approach towards international law for such matters rather than to be rigid in its application. In the absence of an independent body at the international level, it urges a mechanism to ensure no misuse of the current system because, unlike internal/domestic law violations, there may not be a legal recourse to rectify international law violations.
This book is on a less-researched high-demand subject, and reading national security law through India's lens allows various international law and international relations scholars to draw comparative references to better understand this emerging area. A chapter on the adverse effects of transnational organized crimes on India's national security could have enhanced the book; however, this necessary omission may be attributed to India's geo-political situation and its constant struggles to combat it.
Competing interests
None.
