Securing India the Modi Way

The Narendra Modi government, ever since it came to power in May 2014, has made several departures from the past in India’s foreign and national security policies. The Prime Minister’s personal attention to these two aspects of governance has set new benchmarks. These decisions have made the world sit up and take notice of a more confident and assured Indian government, not afraid to take potentially risky decisions.In Securing India the Modi Way: Pathankot, Surgical Strikes and More, released in September 2017, Nitin A. Gokhale provided the most intimate and sweeping account of Team Narendra Modi’s approach to national security and foreign policy initiatives. This revised and updated edition includes details of how the unprecedented decisions to strike a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist camp at Balakot inside Pakistan and to carry out a test to acquire the capability to destroy a satellite in space, were taken.Drawing on internal discussions, as yet unknown information, meeting notes and hours of interviews with key players in the national security team, Gokhale brings alive inside stories of policy formulation at the highest levels in the government.Painstakingly researched, the book details hitherto unknown aspects of the planning and execution of the Balakot strike, the aerial dogfight between Indian and Pakistani air forces and India’s quiet diplomacy in turning the situation around in Maldives. The earlier edition had details surgical strikes, revamping of New Delhi’s policy towards China and Pakistan, India’s renewed outreach to the Middle East, Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to leverage the Indian diaspora worldwide and his attention to smallest of details besides focusing on some small but far-reaching steps taken to secure India in every possible way-on land, in space, cyber and maritime domains.The book in many ways is the first authentic account of the Modi government’s decision making process on vital issues.