Brajesh Mishra slams politicians for lack of national security culture

Former NSA Brajesh Mishra slammed politicians for the 'lack of national security culture' among them.

Former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra today slammed politicians for the lack of national security culture among them and lamented that this was resulting in India stagnating and China modernising its military power.

Mishra,who released two books on Chinese military thinking and Indias defence planning at the Observer Research Foundation here,said in the next five years India would face the danger of battling China and Pakistan simultaneously on both the east and the west fronts,which had never happened in the past.

The book The Dragons Fire on Chinese military strategy is written by Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan and the book Arming the Indian Arsenal on defence planning by Deba R Mohanty.

There is a lack of national security culture among politicians. They have never given the same importance to national security as other countries of similar size have.

National security is being compromised due to electoral politics, he said.

Mishra said after the Bofors scandal,politicians and the bureaucrats were afraid to take decisions on defence procurements and were very careful.

The burden of Bofors scandal continues still on politicians shoulders. They need to change and give priority to national security and not just economic activity, he said.