With a strength of over 1.3 million active personnel, India is world’s third largest military force. India was the largest importer of defence equipment in 2014 with Russia, Israel, France and the United States being the top foreign suppliers of military equipment. The Government of India has launched ‘Make-in-India’ initiative to indigenize manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports, including defence imports and procurement.

The beginning of the 21st century saw reorientation of India on the global stage from a regional role in the sub-continent to a major role in the Indian Ocean region stretching from Gulf of Aden to the Malacca Strait. Contemporary criticisms of the Indian military have drawn attention to several issues, such as obsolete equipment, lack of adequate ammunition, and inadequate research and development due to over-reliance on foreign imports. 

In the context of defence preparedness, national security means that a government should protect the state and its citizens against all kind of national crises through a variety of power projections such as political power, diplomacy, economic power, military might, and so on. Elements of national security include: (a) military security, (b) political security, (c) economic security, (d) environmental security, (e) security of energy and natural resources, and (f) cyber security.

National Security Council (NSC) of India is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister’s office on matters of national security and strategic interest. The three-tiered structure of the NSC comprises of the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board and a Secretariat represented by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC).

Dr. C. Vinodan is currently Co-ordinator, Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Public Policy Studies and Honorary Director, Institute for Contemporary Chinese Studies (ICCS), School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala. He has worked previously at the Post-graduate and Research Department of Political Science, Sree Narayana College, Kollam and Department of Political Science, University of Kerala.

He obtained his M.A. (II Rank), M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from the University of Kerala. He was awarded the Visiting Scholar Fellowship (2003) by the Claremont Graduate University, California, USA. He has attended numerous courses in international relations in India and abroad. These include the 2016 Sino-Indian Cross-Cultural Dialogues held by the Institute of Advanced International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; and the US Department of States Fulbright American Studies Institute (FASI) course on foreign policy at the University of Delaware, Philadelphia in 2000.

Dr. Vinodan has also attended and presented papers at various national and international conferences/seminars. He is also the recipient of a number of awards including Kerala University Post-Doctoral Award (2003-2005). He is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Human Security, Indian Journal of Politics and International Relations and South Asian Journal of Diplomacy. He has published 40 research papers and 4 books.

His areas of teaching and research activities include international relations, security studies, Chinese studies, South Asian studies, energy, environment and human security.