My op-ed in Mint: On overseas military deployments

The need for a policy framework for unilateral action

This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.

In today’s Mint, Sushant & I call for a policy review on overseas military deployments:

…the emerging security environment and India’s increasingly global interests are likely to make the need for such deployments more frequent. Yet the current policy is dogmatic: Foreign deployments are contingent on being part of a UN mission. This is not only untenable, it also opens the door to an abdication of responsibility to protect India’s interests.

India must be ready to act unilaterally, but only dispatch forces to theatres—such as Somalia, Afghanistan or tsunami-hit littorals on the Indian Ocean—where its interests are at stake. Guidelines need to be developed to achieve twin objectives: strategic alignment with India’s geopolitical goals and operational flexibility for military commanders. Mint

If you would like to share or comment on this, please discuss it on my GitHub Previous
Listen to Jaswant Singh Next
INS Tabar sinks pirate ship