Security is always a work in progress and there is nothing absolutist about it; it is always long-term in outlook. Yet, there are nuances which can be taken stock of, issues which have perhaps long been clamouring for attention but complexities of management have rarely afforded an opportunity to visit them.
10 ways to straighten National Security
1)National security strategy document-
For too long has the nation done without transparency in the domain of national security. No one doubts the sincerity of the government in this all-important area, but in a nation where the understanding of national security itself has not matured, there is a need to enhance awareness. If a National Security Strategy (NSS) document is available and regularly reviewed, there will be far greater awareness and understanding. Currently, national security is considered the domain of the military and is associated with everything robust, although the military itself is hardly given the leeway to advise on this. In an emerging era when “hybrid” is the label for all kinds of conflicts which threaten the nation, this awareness has to increase.
As a subset of this point, perhaps a push on the creation of the National Defence University (NDU) may be in order. This was a recommendation of the Kargil Review Committee. It took 12 years for the foundation stone to be laid. The need for giving it some impetus is because there is increasing interest in the country in matters strategic and we need an institution to satiate the thirst for knowledge in this crucial field.
2)Integration Of The MoD And Creation Of A Coordination Mechanism Between The MoD and the MHA-
This is again a recommendation of the Kargil Review Committee which was attempted to be implemented in a patchwork way by creating the HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS). The Services HQs were supposed to be integrated with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), but except for the cosmetic alteration of designation, nothing else changed. At the very minimum, the MoD needs professionals with ground experience to handle policy making appointments. There are models from all over the world where uniformed officers perform bureaucratic jobs as part of joint military-bureaucracy teams. The defense ministry has been examining this seriously but perhaps needs to commence an experiment with a few appointments.
Coupled with the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) or a Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, this would be a transformational change which will send positive vibes within the uniformed community which isn’t too happy about the state of civil-military relations.
The coordination mechanism between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the MoD needs a look, especially since border management is the domain of the MHA but contentious borders are with the MoD. A well-thought-out structure needs to be put in place and made to work for the national good.
3)Revamping Information Operations And Handling Capability-
Pakistan realised the importance of public information and information warfare as early as 1949. It set up the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) and progressively refined its entire approach to information as a domain. This has come into its own since 1989 when Pakistan launched its asymmetric war efforts in Jammu & Kashmir. Ever since the emergence of social media it has further refined its strategy. Sadly, there is no organisation in India, including within the Army, which is chartered to execute information operations. The domain of public relations, public information and information remains rooted within the archaic system of the PRO MoD which for no fault of its own is incapable or simply never considered as a General Staff arm.
4)Creation Of A Communication Strategy Board-
India faces fault line problems arising out of its heterogeneous composition. The need for integration or mainstreaming can never be overemphasised. While there is a Minorities Commission in place, it can only address problems of the minorities and not of regional or people-based grievances which sometimes manifest as internal threats. No doubt the intelligence services monitor this but the social environment needs a perception-based handling, not a counter-intelligence handling, to convey the right information and change minds based on the correct narrative.
J&K, North East and the Red Corridor have all witnessed large scale problems. These can be handled militarily through hard power but equally there is a need for a soft power approach too. For that, a permanent body which could be termed as the National Communication Strategy Board needs to be set up with representation from different walks of life to include military, police, intelligence, academia, media, psychologists and medical doctors, sociologists and even politicians who have a penchant for strategic affairs.
The tasks of this body could be worked out in detail but broadly it would be an ideating platform which would generate narratives and could even task agencies after due approval of the PMO or Cabinet Secretariat.
5)Civil-Military Relations-
These have not been in a healthy state for long and there is a history of standoff which is denying the nation the benefit of the best services of both the civil and the military authority towards management of security affairs of the country. Issues of protocol, control, turf, budgeting and many other areas of discord are preventing the optimisation of the armed forces, something only our adversaries would be happy to note. There is no magic wand solution to this but a conscious beginning must be made to arrest and reverse the trend. Perhaps directions are necessary from the highest level to set up a permanent composite body to monitor and report the state of civil-military relations.
6)J&K Affairs-
First, the benefits of good governance need to reach the people. The perception persists that much investment has been made in J&K but it needs more accountability to ensure the impact. Without impinging on the freedom of the state government, the central government possibly needs a department to handle J&K in a focused way and cater to governance needs in a fast track mode.
Secondly, all other aspects of security being equal, the significance of security of the rear areas needs attention, especially in the Jammu region where vulnerability appears higher, and this includes government installations, garrisons and soft spots such as schools. This attention could also expand into areas of North Punjab which may increasingly be in the crosswires of the planners across the border. Greater coordination between the Army and the police needs to be institutionalised.
Thirdly, the agitation in the streets through the second half of 2016 paralysed work in the Valley and also had Jammu seething. An ominous calm seems to have emerged, driven more by fatigue and exhaustion. It needs just a little tonic to get back to the negativism of 2016. In the window of 2017, a special strategy to reach the people needs to be made. This is no appeasement; an exhausted populace needs balm. How this can be done and done quickly should form the government’s focus. There are past best practices available which could be revisited with more consultation.
7)China, Russia And The US: The Big Power Game-
There can be no security consideration without the China factor. The threat from China is likely to loom large, but equally, China is likely to be more focused on the US under Trump. India being an emerging strategic partner of the US could inadvertently get sucked into the vortex of the US-China rivalry. This would not be to its interest and therefore tightrope walking may have to be the cornerstone of its strategy. 2017 is likely to be a year of greater uncertainty as a new US administration wrestles with its security concerns. Russia is gaining greater confidence after its involvement in Syria and has been testing waters in Pakistan. Equations in big power politics are not zero sum games. India’s relationship with Russia is very important and this needs to be developed with messaging that given all other relationships, the India-Russia equation is extremely dear to us.
However, India cannot be restrained by the uncertainty of big power relationships. Mr Modi’s hard work through three years of foreign policy development will fructify now if India retains balance without compromising in areas where it has already scored, e.g. the rapport with Japan and ASEAN needs to continue in the quest for the development of the Indo-Pacific idea.
8)Afghanistan-
India cannot take its eyes away from Afghanistan. 2017 may well be a decisive year in the future of Afghanistan as a strong military-oriented administration comes to power in the US. No doubt Pakistan will play an important role in whatever the US does, by sheer dint of its geostrategic location. However, India, having built its relationship with President Ashraf Ghani, cannot allow its position to be diluted. If necessary, military support to the Afghan National Army in terms of some lethal capability may also be considered in consultation with other stakeholders.
The complexities of Afghanistan are well understood in India’s diplomatic community and this understanding needs to harnessed optimally.
9)Bangladesh, Myanmar And Act East-
No security consideration in the current context can be complete without turning attention towards the East, and that includes the handling of India’s North East region. With Myanmar more stable, opened up and integrated with ASEAN, the situation begs for incorporating it as the virtual bridge to ASEAN along the continental continuity. With Bangladesh in the best state of relations with India, this is the time to exploit the Bangladesh-North East India-Myanmar continuum in turns of connectivity and economic corridors for the mutual benefit of the entire region.
Just as in the case of Nagaland, a more focused outreach in Manipur may convince the disparate groups of the opportunity for all.
China too is increasingly looking at the Maritime Silk Route and inner connectivity, which India is yet to be convinced about. Perhaps that may yet be early, but economics needs to be the driver for Bangladesh, Myanmar and North East India and through that to the rest of ASEAN.
10)Military Capability-
The last of the issues needing continued focus is the requirement for development of military capability. It is not as if India is weak, but in recent times there has been a trend to find fault with every single facet of the nation’s military capability. No doubt our equipment profile is getting dated and the promised fast track induction of equipment has not fully fructified.
All three services have their problems. The creation of a Chief of the Defence Staff or equivalent will contribute to the degree of clarity in priorities. Recent reforms in procurement and indigenisation have been pragmatic but the execution may need more energy through some policy changes in personnel management for those who handle this domain. We need the initiation of processes which will ensure continuity. Much has been done but equally, much still needs focus.
There is also the field of ammunition which needs attention. In 2013, the nation received a bit of a scare when it was revealed that our capability existed only to fight a 20-day war due to the restricted quantum of ammunition. In 2017, this needs to be holistically reviewed and if imports have to be resorted to, the same should be done. This is one domain where we need transparency for reassurance of the public and messaging our adversaries who may take our overall war waging potential lightly.
There can be a host of other issues on which one needs to deliberate but there can be no doubt that the government is well seized of these. The only challenge in the complex job of running a government is how to remain focused and prioritize without allowing events to dictate the course. National security from a geostrategic angle will obviously remain a key concern.
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On March 31, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Gender Gap Report 2021. The Global Gender Gap report is an annual report released by the WEF. The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. The gap between men and women across health, education, politics, and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]No need to remember all the data, only pick out few important ones to use in your answers.
The Global gender gap index aims to measure this gap in four key areas : health, education, economics, and politics. It surveys economies to measure gender disparity by collating and analyzing data that fall under four indices : economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity. The index aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men in health, education, economy, and politics.
Although no country has achieved full gender parity, the top two countries (Iceland and Finland) have closed at least 85% of their gap, and the remaining seven countries (Lithuania, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, and Ireland) have closed at least 80% of their gap. Geographically, the global top 10 continues to be dominated by Nordic countries, with —Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden—in the top five.
The top 10 is completed by one country from Asia Pacific (New Zealand 4th), two Sub-Saharan countries (Namibia, 6th and Rwanda, 7th, one country from Eastern Europe (the new entrant to the top 10, Lithuania, 8th), and another two Western European countries (Ireland, 9th, and Switzerland, 10th, another country in the top-10 for the first time).There is a relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women in these countries. The tremendous gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Here, we can discuss the overall global gender gap scores across the index’s four main components : Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The indicators of the four main components are
(1) Economic Participation and Opportunity:
o Labour force participation rate,
o wage equality for similar work,
o estimated earned income,
o Legislators, senior officials, and managers,
o Professional and technical workers.
(2) Educational Attainment:
o Literacy rate (%)
o Enrollment in primary education (%)
o Enrollment in secondary education (%)
o Enrollment in tertiary education (%).
(3) Health and Survival:
o Sex ratio at birth (%)
o Healthy life expectancy (years).
(4) Political Empowerment:
o Women in Parliament (%)
o Women in Ministerial positions (%)
o Years with a female head of State (last 50 years)
o The share of tenure years.
The objective is to shed light on which factors are driving the overall average decline in the global gender gap score. The analysis results show that this year’s decline is mainly caused by a reversal in performance on the Political Empowerment gap.
Global Trends and Outcomes:
– Globally, this year, i.e., 2021, the average distance completed to gender parity gap is 68% (This means that the remaining gender gap to close stands at 32%) a step back compared to 2020 (-0.6 percentage points). These figures are mainly driven by a decline in the performance of large countries. On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
– The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked, with only 22% closed to date, having further widened since the 2020 edition of the report by 2.4 percentage points. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 Parliament seats and 22.6% of over 3,400 Ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of State as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics.
– The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second-largest of the four key gaps tracked by the index. According to this year’s index results, 58% of this gap has been closed so far. The gap has seen marginal improvement since the 2020 edition of the report, and as a result, we estimate that it will take another 267.6 years to close.
– Gender gaps in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival are nearly closed. In Educational Attainment, 95% of this gender gap has been closed globally, with 37 countries already attaining gender parity. However, the ‘last mile’ of progress is proceeding slowly. The index estimates that it will take another 14.2 years to close this gap on its current trajectory completely.
In Health and Survival, 96% of this gender gap has been closed, registering a marginal decline since last year (not due to COVID-19), and the time to close this gap remains undefined. For both education and health, while progress is higher than economy and politics in the global data, there are important future implications of disruptions due to the pandemic and continued variations in quality across income, geography, race, and ethnicity.
India-Specific Findings:
India had slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered. The pandemic causing a disproportionate impact on women jeopardizes rolling back the little progress made in the last decades-forcing more women to drop off the workforce and leaving them vulnerable to domestic violence.
India’s poor performance on the Global Gender Gap report card hints at a serious wake-up call and learning lessons from the Nordic region for the Government and policy makers.
Within the 156 countries covered, women hold only 26 percent of Parliamentary seats and 22 percent of Ministerial positions. India, in some ways, reflects this widening gap, where the number of Ministers declined from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 percent. In India, the gender gap has widened to 62.5 %, down from 66.8% the previous year.
It is mainly due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, a decrease in women’s labor force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, and income inequality.
The gap is the widest on the political empowerment dimension, with economic participation and opportunity being next in line. However, the gap on educational attainment and health and survival has been practically bridged.
India is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%.
Its ranking on the health and survival dimension is among the five worst performers. The economic participation and opportunity gap saw a decline of 3% compared to 2020, while India’s educational attainment front is in the 114th position.
India has deteriorated to 51st place from 18th place in 2020 on political empowerment. Still, it has slipped to 155th position from 150th position in 2020 on health and survival, 151st place in economic participation and opportunity from 149th place, and 114th place for educational attainment from 112th.
In 2020 reports, among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap of 64.6% is larger than the political gender gap of 58.9%. In 2021 report, among the 156 countries, the economic gender gap of India is 67.4%, 3.8% gender gap in education, 6.3% gap in health and survival, and 72.4% gender gap in political empowerment. In health and survival, the gender gap of the sex ratio at birth is above 9.1%, and healthy life expectancy is almost the same.
Discrimination against women has also been reflected in Health and Survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex. The wide sex ratio at birth gaps is due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. Besides, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.The gender gap in the literacy rate is above 20.1%.
Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy : one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) than 17.6% of men. In political empowerment, globally, women in Parliament is at 128th position and gender gap of 83.2%, and 90% gap in a Ministerial position. The gap in wages equality for similar work is above 51.8%. On health and survival, four large countries Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and China, fare poorly, with millions of women there not getting the same access to health as men.
The pandemic has only slowed down in its tracks the progress India was making towards achieving gender parity. The country urgently needs to focus on “health and survival,” which points towards a skewed sex ratio because of the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices and women’s economic participation. Women’s labour force participation rate and the share of women in technical roles declined in 2020, reducing the estimated earned income of women, one-fifth of men.
Learning from the Nordic region, noteworthy participation of women in politics, institutions, and public life is the catalyst for transformational change. Women need to be equal participants in the labour force to pioneer the societal changes the world needs in this integral period of transition.
Every effort must be directed towards achieving gender parallelism by facilitating women in leadership and decision-making positions. Social protection programmes should be gender-responsive and account for the differential needs of women and girls. Research and scientific literature also provide unequivocal evidence that countries led by women are dealing with the pandemic more effectively than many others.
Gendered inequality, thereby, is a global concern. India should focus on targeted policies and earmarked public and private investments in care and equalized access. Women are not ready to wait for another century for equality. It’s time India accelerates its efforts and fight for an inclusive, equal, global recovery.
India will not fully develop unless both women and men are equally supported to reach their full potential. There are risks, violations, and vulnerabilities women face just because they are women. Most of these risks are directly linked to women’s economic, political, social, and cultural disadvantages in their daily lives. It becomes acute during crises and disasters.
With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, women become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless women are valued more.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.