Security isn’t only what soldiers fight and put their lives at risk for in a distant, forbidding frontier, far from the spotlight; it is also what each one of us, every man and particularly women, experiences while stepping out of home. To the BJP, the concept of security is a dynamic one that has many emerging challenges and opportunities. However, the most important thing for a strong and secure India is a robust economy. No nationalist government at the Centre can avoid paying attention to the Indian economy, as each time we do that we leave India exposed to enemies, both external and internal. High GDP growth and economic development is fundamental to the idea of Indian security.

For the BJP, the concept of national security is a holistic one that has several aspects. First, India needs to cut down its excessive reliance on foreign arms manufacturers and focus its energies on indigenisation and becoming a manufacturer of technologies and equipment that can be used by our military. Not only will this effort save us crucial foreign exchange but also lead to generation of millions of jobs that will act as a booster for the Indian economy.

Internally, India needs a stronger and state-of-the-art police force with a much bigger presence of women. The BJP is committed to modernisation of police forces across Indian states and will extend whatever assistance, motivation and help is required to achieve this goal. The party feels that a greater participation of women in the state police forces and an integration of modern investigation and forensic techniques and technology will keep in check some of the most important issues that confront us today - the safety of women, children and the elderly.

India also needs to prepare itself for the future wars that will be fought in the virtual world. This is an area of concern for India, which, despite its undisputed leadership in the IT and services sector, hasn’t been able to keep pace with developments in other countries. We need to hire, train and prepare ‘armies’ of such young Indians who will ensure safety of our assets in the virtual world.

It isn’t surprising that many of these changes would also have a direct and positive impact on the Indian economy that will lead to further empowerment of a strong, united India. The vision the BJP projects gives significant weightage to security, and works towards strengthening it, both externally and internally.