The New Arthashastra: A Security Strategy for India

For a country that has fought five wars and is hemmed in by nuclear-armed states, India surprisingly does not have a formally declared national security strategy. All the major powers of the world publish documents that spell out their national interests, identify their threats - political, economic, diplomatic or with regard to security - and draw up policies to deal with them. The absence of a similar doctrine makes India's defence policy look ad hoc and creates the impression that the country is unprepared to realize its global ambitions. The New Arthashastra is a path-breaking attempt to recommend a national security strategy for India. It does the difficult groundwork for India's political leaders and policymakers by bringing the best names - from within the community as well as from the armed forces and academia - to the ideating table. This collection of twenty essays covers a wide range of topics: nuclear deterrence, defence spending, the domestic production of weapons, and bracing for the wars of the future that will be fought in space and cyberspace. Most important, it presents a roadmap to address India's chief concerns: Chinese assertiveness and Pakistan's unrelenting proxy war. Informed by the expertise of analysts with inside-out knowledge of their domains, The New Arthashastra offers enduring and practical insights to strategists and lay readers alike.

Author: Gurmeet Kanwal

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: Oct 20, 2016

Number of Pages: 448 pages

Language: English

Binding: Hardcover

ISBN-10: 9351777510

ISBN-13: 9789351777519