Finally, national defence university gets government nod (Second Lead)

NEW DELHI - Eight years after a recommendation by a group of ministers, the government Thursday sanctioned Rs.295 crore for establishing an autonomous defence university in Gurgaon to synergise strategic planning and analyses keeping in view the country’s geopolitical objectives and national security.

“The union cabinet accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of the Indian National Defence University (INDU) as a fully autonomous institution to be constituted under an act of parliament,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Manmohan Singh.

“There is need to educate and adequately prepare national security leaders to enable them look at strategic security challenges in a holistic manner and formulate policies based on research and informed inputs,” an official explained.

Towards this end, the National Defence College (New Delhi), the College of Defence Management (Secunderabad), the Defence Services Staff College (Wellington) and the National Defence Academy (Khadakwasla) “will be brought under the ambit of INDU”, the official explained.

The cabinet also accorded approval for acquisition of 200 acres of land at Binola in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of the national capital, for the proposed site of INDU at an estimated cost of Rs.100 crore.

“INDU will undertake long term defence and strategic studies and create synergy between academic community and government. (It) will educate national security leaders on aspects of national security strategy, national military strategy, national information strategy and national technology strategy through teaching and research,” an official statement said.

“It will also promote policy oriented research on all aspect relating to national security as an input to strategic national policy making,” the statement added.

INDU’s creation was among the recommendations made in 2000 by a committee headed by noted security expert K. Subrahmanyam that examined the Indian Army’s operations during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.

A group of ministers had cleared the proposal in 2002.

The US, China and several other countries already have institutions like INDU.