NEW DELHI, Sep 3: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday released ‘RAKSHA’, a comprehensive document outlining India’s strategic vision and roadmap for defence diplomacy and global defence partnerships over the next decade.
The framework seeks to strengthen India’s strategic engagement with partner countries by aligning national security priorities with proactive international cooperation, with a focus on long-term stability, mutual growth and a rules-based global order.
The document identifies four key pillars of India’s defence diplomacy—strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous defence exports and maritime security.
Under strategic partnerships, the framework envisages deeper bilateral and multilateral security cooperation with friendly nations. It also calls for expanding joint military exercises, training programmes and the sharing of best practices as part of India’s capacity-building initiatives.
The document places emphasis on promoting indigenous defence platforms under the Make in India initiative, with the objective of establishing India as a reliable global hub for defence manufacturing and exports.
Maritime security is another major focus, with the framework seeking to strengthen India’s role as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region.
Defence diplomacy, described as a core pillar of India’s foreign policy, is expected to play a greater role in advancing the country’s security interests and strengthening partnerships globally.
The ‘RAKSHA’ framework provides an actionable vision for the next 10 years, with the broader objective of positioning India as an anchor of peace, stability and a rules-based international order amid an evolving global security environment.
Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Rudrendra Tandon, Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs and National Security Council Secretariat were present at the event.
