Deepa Prakash
Draft paper
Presented at IDSA International Workshop on National Security Strategy,
December 2010
Not to be cited without permission
1
International Terrorism and National Security Strategy
What is the place of international terrorism in the formulation of Indian National Security
Strategy (NSS)? The answer to this question remains unsettled. The resilience of Al Qaeda in
its base on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and its growing network of affiliates as well as
continued threats from state and non-state entities across the border represent clear
international threats to Indian National Security. At the same time, unique challenges from
internal movements and the urgency of other non-traditional security threats beg the
question of how far developments in transnational terrorism should guide and figure in the
formulation of Indian National Security Strategy. This paper outlines the key trends evident
in the evolution of International Terrorism and assesses their resonance for India. I contend
that trends in the evolution of international terrorism in the next decade are of mixed and
partial relevance for India. My paper suggests that India’s NSS response should be attentive
not just to areas of convergence with the international community on terrorism but also
areas of dissonance, stemming from India’s own experience, context, identity and strategic
environment.
I ask the following questions:
1. How do trends in the evolution of terrorism relate to Indian interests and experience?
2. How can India balance a global role in combating international terrorism with unique
domestic challenges to national security?
Before embarking on the rest of this paper, it is pertinent to explicate the scope of my paper.
For the purposes of the IDSA strategy project, I restrict my paper in three important ways.
First, I focus on examining international or transnational terrorism only. While India’s
domestic challenges and context play an integral role in directing India’s counter-terrorism
initiatives at the multilateral level, in this paper I do not contend with the important subject
of domestic terrorism and political violence. Secondly, I do not explicitly delve into the issue
of counter-terrorism, although counter-terrorism studies naturally constitute the other side
of the terrorism studies coin. For the purposes of this paper, I confine myself to studying the
implications raised for Indian NSS by developments in international terrorism. Lastly, the
paper does not make concrete recommendations for policy in the vein of a briefing but
