India’s Defence Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, has underlined the strategic necessity for the nation to project hard power in tandem with its established traditions of soft power diplomacy, particularly in a global landscape increasingly marked by competitive populism and economic protectionism.

Speaking at the Southern Command Defence Tech 2025 seminar (STRIDE 2025), Singh observed that the post-Cold War era’s optimism about globalisation and free trade has reached a decisive pause, disrupted by ongoing geopolitical conflicts, such as those in the Middle East and Europe, along with the ascendancy of populist political regimes worldwide.

These developments, he noted, have fostered an environment of economic fragmentation, the weakening of multilateral institutions, and a resurgence of nationalism, conditions which are reshaping the tools and levers of international statecraft.

Singh argued that in such a challenging global order, India's traditional reliance on soft power instruments—including diplomacy, cultural influence, and cooperative partnerships—must be complemented by a calibrated display of its hard power capabilities.

He stressed that the contemporary strategic environment requires hard power not only for deterrence and security assurance but also as a critical enabler in advancing economic and geopolitical deal-making.

The ability to project credible military capabilities, he said, is increasingly intertwined with restoring balance in negotiations on trade, technology collaborations, and regional security frameworks, particularly at a time when countries are adopting protectionist measures and withdrawing into nationalistic policies.

Central to Singh’s address was the call for fostering a more integrated approach to building India’s defence capabilities. He emphasised that to meet the transformative needs of the armed forces, the lines between academia, defence R&D organisations like the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and public-private industrial sectors must converge more effectively.

Highlighting the era of military-technical competition, Singh pointed out that indigenous innovation, industrial resilience, and advanced defence technologies are no longer optional but essential for sovereignty and strategic autonomy.

This requires transforming India’s defence ecosystem into a collaborative platform where researchers, technologists, private defence startups, and established state-owned enterprises can generate solutions that address both near-term operational requirements and long-term capability enhancement.

By advocating for this synergy, Singh implicitly recognised the dual challenge before India: the need for sustained modernisation and self-reliance in defence manufacturing, and the necessity of securing technological superiority to remain relevant in an era when hybrid warfare, cyber threats, and high-tech weapons platforms are reshaping the character of conflicts.

He made it clear that in an uncertain multipolar world order, mutual dependence and cooperative structures are weakening, and nations that can project force effectively while safeguarding their economic and technological interests are better able to secure strategic advantages.

Singh’s remarks, therefore, encapsulated a paradigm where India must balance its outward-looking soft power diplomacy—anchored in cultural appeal, democratic values, and global developmental initiatives like the “Global South” engagement—with a credible, visible presence of hard power, including military deterrent strength, advanced defence technology capabilities, and greater defence-industrial capacity.

This twin projection, he stressed, is vital for India not only to guard its sovereignty and territorial integrity but also to secure leverage in shaping geopolitical outcomes in a sharply divided and protectionist international order.

Based On A PTI Report