Eroding civil-military balance in Modi’s India

2026-02-24 - 22:23

EFFECTIVE civil–military relations in democratic states rest on institutional clarity, professional autonomy and transparent political accountability. When these pillars weaken, military effectiveness and democratic oversight are simultaneously compromised. Contemporary India presents a revealing case of such strain, particularly under the highly centralized governance model associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The experiences of former Indian Army Chief M. M. Naravane, especially during the 2020 Ladakh standoff and in the subsequent suppression of his memoir, highlight a widening civil–military disconnect that has direct implications for regional security in South Asia. General Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, reportedly provides a candid account of India’s strategic decision-making failures during the Ladakh crisis, the abrupt rollout of the Agnipath recruitment scheme and broader issues of border management. The manuscript’s continued blockage within India’s Ministry of Defence since 2023–24, ostensibly due to prolonged “security clearances,” raises serious questions about freedom of expression for senior military professionals. In mature democracies, memoirs by former service chiefs are often debated, contested, or critiqued but rarely suppressed. India’s approach suggests an increasingly securitized political environment where inconvenient truths are treated as reputational threats rather than opportunities for institutional learning. The Ladakh standoff itself exposed structural weaknesses in India’s command-and-control architecture. As Chinese forces advanced close to Indian positions along the Line of Actual Control, the Indian Army reportedly faced operational uncertainty not because of military unreadiness, but due to political indecision at the highest level. General Naravane is reported to have sought explicit instructions from key civilian authorities, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Despite the immediacy of battlefield developments, he was reportedly instructed not to open fire without clearance “from the very top.” This episode underscores the risks inherent in excessive political centralisation. Civilian control of the military is a democratic necessity, but when control morphs into micromanagement or paralysis, it undermines operational effectiveness. The reported delay—followed by a vague directive hours later, phrased as “Jo uchitsamjho, woh karo”—illustrates not decisive leadership but strategic ambiguity. Such ambiguity is particularly dangerous in high-altitude, high-tension environments where miscalculations can rapidly escalate into open conflict. Beyond the operational sphere, the political handling of these disclosures further reveals a narrowing space for accountability in India. When opposition leader Rahul Gandhi raised these issues in the Lok Sabha on 2 February 2026, parliamentary proceedings were reportedly disrupted by senior ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, leading to adjournment. Such reactions signal an intolerance for debate on national security matters that contradict the government’s preferred narrative of decisive leadership and infallible nationalism. Ultimately, the silencing of senior military voices and the reluctance to confront uncomfortable strategic realities do not enhance national strength; they erode it. For South Asia, where nuclear-armed neighbours operate in close proximity, such dysfunction carries implications beyond domestic politics. A civil–military disconnect in India—rooted in political over-centralization and narrative control—poses risks not only to Indian soldiers on the ground but to regional stability as a whole. In this context, Pakistan’s emphasis on institutional clarity and professional military discourse emerges as a comparatively stabilizing factor in an otherwise fragile regional security environment. —The writer is contributing columnist, based in Rawalpindi.