Episode 83: India’s Civil-Military Relations

India’s military strength has increased in the past decades. However, it has still some way to go in developing the processes which makes the use of military force effective. The civilian bureaucracy within the Ministry of Defence and military establishment tends to be out of touch in setting national priorities and corresponding military objectives. The book, Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Military in India, captures much of this dysfunction. The author, Dr Anit Mukherjee Deputy Head of Graduate Studies, and an Associate Professor in the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, joins ISAS Research Fellow Yogesh Joshi in a conversation on civil-military dysfunction in India and its implications on military efficiency in India.