Lt Gen. Rameshwar Yadav (retd)

National power is an aggregate of hard and soft power quotients of a nation in reference to her reckonable influence over other countries to pursue their national aims and objectives. While the soft power is the derivative of the inclusive and integrating pull of the socio-economic virtues, the hard power is the coercive punitive potential of the military alongside the economy itself. Amongst these two main parameters, it is the economy which is central to the national interests irrespective of the format of the type of governance.

Uplifting the quality of life and secure environment are the essential responsibilities of the governments of the day in all the countries. The welfare of the subjects is the function of the economy, and security is sum total of all the features of public safety with military as the main national institution. In that, the military ensures sanitising the environment to pursue the national economic interests neutralising the inimical forces impacting on or impeding the pursuance of national objectives.

The edifice of national power lies in the strength of a country to make other nations agree to their point of view through power of economy alongside persuasive diplomacy duly backed up with coercive military content. Therefore, a nation needs to nurture her economy as well as the military capabilities so as to ensure high strategic stature and political space to pursue national policies. Therefore, the military plays a vital role in building up the gross national power, hence deserves utmost indulgence of the government.

The military of a country is as strong as its technological outreach regarding her defence production capabilities. A country which is dependent on import of weapon and equipment is always vulnerable due to the underlying insecurity of denial of the equipment when needed, besides syphoning out scarce national financial resources. Therefore, defence technology is a priority area of concern for any country who aspires to retain their political autonomy and secure a high strategic pull amongst the community of nations.

The US, Russia and China, the big three as on date have strong militaries and they have used it for their politico-economic expansion with impunity. The overt display of their political will to use force beyond their borders lies in their strength of strong economy as well as their technological prowess to sustain their militaries. India, despite being a large economy and possessing substantial technical manpower does not come up close to these countri