Chanakya Defence Dialogue
Securing India and The Indo-Pacific: Collaborating for Comprehensive Security
03 – 04 November 2023
Concept Note
- In the dynamic geopolitical and security environment of today, the only thing which is permanent are a nation This evolving nature of geopolitics compels nation-states to devise suitable ‘Ways and ‘Means’ to achieve their desired ‘Ends’. However, their National Security Strategies not only comprise defence or application of military resources to attain national goals but also adopt an inter-disciplinary approach encompassing aspects like economic well-being, internal security, food security, advanced technologies and energy sufficiency. There are transnational factors which propel nations to seek a common ground for co-operation. The world is between orders, where populous nations such as India and China have the capacity to reshape the present international order to a more favourable disposition. Sharing borders with Pakistan, and China among many countries and littoral states, India has faced many a challenge, but it has nevertheless emerged as a rising and responsible nation in South Asia which can play a key role in the Indian Ocean Region and the ‘Indo-Pacific’.
- Security and sovereignty of nation states continue to be affected by an inter play of interaction, cooperation and competition between many states but most importantly close neighbours. Notwithstanding the fact that many nations have adopted a ‘Nation First’ attitude due to challenges posed by the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has focused on taking its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy forward.
- While India does not have a written National Security Strategy which guides the application of comprehensive national power, its efforts to enhance its footprints in global and regional affairs have been An exchange of views and sharing of perceptions will provide a better understanding of contemporary security challenges and facilitate assimilation of global ‘Best Practices’ to tackle them and help in enhancing national and regional security. The Chanakya Defence Dialogue (CDD) will then become a forum to provide us with not only a global overview but also address regional issues concerning National Security. These challenges have a direct bearing on the role of all types of security Forces. While the issues of South Asia are proposed to be elicited from the perspectives of India’s neighbors, the Indo-Pacific regional dynamics could be dwelt upon by speakers from that region.
- Dual use emerging and disruptive technologies are affecting defence and security in large measure. The CDD will therefore look to note the impact of niche technologies such as 5G, Cyber Space, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics in the future and help us prepare for them.
- The outcome of such a dialogue will help us to decipher emerging threats and challenges to India in the region. It will assist the strategic leadership in evaluating the adequacy of existing structures and wherewithal to meet such challenges and strengthen comprehensive security in concert with like-minded nations.
- The target audience will be the strategic and defence community, planners, scholars from the academia and delegates of leading think tanks working in the field of Regional and National The CDD will comprise a series of theme-based Seminar-Dialogues over two days.
