Viksit Bharat 2047: Vice Army Chief Stresses National Security, Border Development, And Internal Harmony As Top Priority

At the Surat LitFest 2025, Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) N S Raja Subramani, Vice Chief of the Army Staff, outlined India's roadmap for realising the vision of "Viksit Bharat 2047." 

Speaking on 'National Security and Bharat @2047,' he emphasised that achieving this vision requires addressing key weaknesses and leveraging India’s inherent strengths.

Lt Gen Subramani identified India's strengths as its strategic geographical location, youthful population, stable economic growth, and thriving service sectors like pharmaceuticals and IT. 

However, he cautioned, "What are our weaknesses? First, environmental change; second, our manufacturing sector is not strong; third, we do not have that many employment opportunities. Our border, whether with China or Pakistan, is not yet developed. We need to improve the human development index."

He stressed the need for resolving internal conflicts to ensure social and communal harmony, aserting that challenges in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Northeast, and left-wing extremism (LWE) must be resolved for national progress.

Economic security is equally vital, according to Lt Gen Subramani, as India can never progress if national and economic security are not in unison.

Global challenges such as competition between superpowers like the US and China, hybrid warfare, economic conflicts, and the influence of social media-driven narratives require India to adopt a robust strategy, he said. 

Lt Gen Subramani highlighted that "superpowers such as the US and China and Russia are important for us" when forming strategic policies.

On the recent Chinese troop withdrawal from Ladakh, he noted that while it is a positive development, China will try to increase its influence on India's strategic space - neighbours like Bangladesh and Myanmar. 

He expressed optimism about internal security, citing recent developments in J&K. He noted that the situation in J&K has become normal after Article 370 and recent elections with more than 60 per cent voter turnout.