Context: Defence Minister released ‘RAKSHA’, a landmark strategic document outlining India’s 10-year defence diplomacy roadmap and vision for global partnerships during a special event at Kartavya Bhawan.
About The RAKSHA Document:
What It Is?
- ‘RAKSHA’ is a strategic 10-year defence diplomacy vision document formulated by the Ministry of Defence. It serves as an institutional blueprint defining how India will leverage its military engagements, multilateral security frameworks, domestic defence-industrial ecosystem, and maritime presence to foster global stability, protect vital national security interests, and advance a rules-based international order over the next decade.
Nodal Organisation: Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India, in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the National Security Council Secretariat.
Aim: To systematically align national security priorities with proactive foreign policy, transforming defence diplomacy into a tool for mutual economic growth, strategic autonomy, and a rules-based international order.
Key Features:
- Strategic Partnerships: Deepens formal bilateral defence frameworks, expands intelligence sharing, and strengthens multilateral security architectures with friendly foreign nations.
- Capacity Building: Enhances international interoperability through expanded joint military exercises, institutional training exchanges, and technical knowledge transfer.
- Indigenous Defence Exports: Promotes homegrown military hardware built under the Make in India initiative to position the country as a reliable global defence manufacturing and supply hub.
- Maritime Security Leadership: Consolidates India’s operational footprint across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), reinforcing its role as a primary Net Security Provider and First Responder in humanitarian or security crises.
- Integrated Foreign Policy Approach: Merges military engagement directly with diplomatic missions, utilizing defence attaches, Lines of Credit (LoC) for military hardware, and joint industrial ventures to support geopolitical goals.
Significance:
- Formulates a long-term, actionable policy doctrine for the military establishment, shifting India from ad-hoc security agreements to sustained, structured international cooperation.
- Directs global diplomatic channels to open export markets for indigenous platforms, supporting domestic aerospace and defence ecosystems.
