‘Raksha’ Framework For Defence Diplomacy

Syllabus: GS3/Defence 

In News

• The Defence Minister released the ‘RAKSHA’ document on defence diplomacy in New Delhi.

Defence diplomacy 

• It is the non-coercive use of military assets, resources, and institutions to achieve foreign policy and national security goals in peacetime.
• It uses military-to-military engagement such as joint exercises, port visits, intelligence sharing, capacity-building programs, and humanitarian relief to create mutual trust, reduce conflict, and to project power soft-coercively.

Main Objectives

• Trust Building: Establishing open communication lines, hotline systems, and confidence-building measures (CBMs) to deal with border tensions and avoid inadvertent escalation.
• Maritime and  Regional Stability: Joint patrols and intelligence sharing to work together to protect the world’s Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) from piracy, maritime terrorism, and illicit fishing.
• Capacity Building of Partner States – Providing military training slots, hydrographic surveys, technical skills, and exports of armaments to friendly foreign states to strengthen their national defence infrastructure.
• Strategic Alignment: Enhancing interoperability with key strategic partners and alliances to provide a balance of power, without any binding defence pacts.

Major Challenges

• Bureaucratic Coordination: Sometimes, lack of coordination between the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has led to delays in operationalising defence pacts.
• Geopolitical balancing acts::  Building defence ties with one country can sometimes risk alienating another. 
• Capacity and Training Bottlenecks: The demand for training slots at war schools and military academies from partners in the Global South generally outstrips physical capacity and dedicated institutional resources.
• Support Ecosystem: Defence exports entail significant long-term maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and after-sales support needs that are increasing to be on par with established outside vendors.

Latest Developments and Progress

• ‘Raksha’ Strategic Framework: It outlines India’s strategic roadmap and vision for global defence partnerships over the next 10 years.
  • It marks a shift in India’s strategic engagement, aligning national security objectives with proactive global cooperation, fostering long-term stability and mutual growth. 
  • Key pillars
    • Strategic Alliances: Building Bilateral and Multilateral Security Cooperation.
    • Capacity Building: Improvement of joint military exercises, training programs, and best practices exchange with friendly states
    • Indigenous Exports: Make-in-India defence platforms to position India as a viable global base for defence manufacturing.
    • Maritime Security: Strengthening India’s Position as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region.
• MAHASAGAR: India has fostered strong bilateral and multilateral partnerships with key partners and like-minded countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), in line with India’s Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).
  • Vision MAHASAGAR encompasses the ideas of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future.

Conclusion 

• Defence diplomacy is no longer marginal in the art of statecraft, but at the confluence of security, industrial capabilities, and foreign relations.
• Through strategic policy frameworks like RAKSHA and the expansion of indigenous defence exports, India is helping to define its role as a stable anchor and trusted security supplier in the Indo-Pacific. 
• Building institutional capacity and facilitating inter-ministerial execution will remain key to transforming these strategic aspirations into long-lasting diplomatic partnerships.

Source: PIB