BJP's manifesto on defence

From an arms importer, India now ranks among the top 25 arms-exporting nations. BJP's 2024 manifesto must include a coherent policy to increase defence exports

- AJAI SHUKLA

With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a fortnight-long on Monday to gather suggestions for its election manifesto. Seldom short of organisational resources, the party has sent out video raths (chariots) to crowd-source suggestions from numerous Assembly constituencies. The party has also invited suggestions through the NaMo App, placed 6,000 drop boxes across the country and mobilised its cadres for face-to-face meetings with potential voters. By March 15, the BJP plans to obtain inputs from 10 million Indians for its 2024 general elections manifesto - called the "Sankalp Patra" or Letter of Resolution. From these, the party will distill the defence and security-related issues that will feature in the BJP's manifesto for 2024.

In its 2014 and 2019 manifestos, the BJP had raised four major and several minor issues relating to defence. First, the manifesto accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of being sloppy on security, leading to multiple border intrusions by China and Pakistan, a shortage of combat aircraft, warships and submarines, multiple accidents involving naval warships, growing pressure from "Pakistan backed terror groups", and illegal immigration from Bangladesh. While these issues are inflammatory, they are not new.

Second, the BJP manifesto pledged to "update" India's nuclear doctrine. This triggered speculation that New Delhi was considering abandoning its longheld "No First Use" policy. The 2014 manifesto promised to "study in detail India's nuclear doctrine, and revise and update it, to make it relevant to challenges of current times". It is unclear whether this TELEINTRATION KINAY NURHA meant a larger nuclear deterrent, or the creation of an arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) that would counter Pakistan's much-hyped TNW weapons. Eventually, nothing came of this.