BOOK DISCUSSION ON NONTRADITIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS IN INDIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Indian Research Scholars Association organized a discussion on the book ‘Non Traditional Security Concerns in India: Issues and Challenges’ edited by Professor Shantesh Kumar Singh and Professor Shriprakash Singh. Professor Chintamani Mahapatra (former Pro. Vice Chancellor Jawaharlal Nehru University and founder and honorary president of Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies) was present as the chief guest in this discussion. The session chairperson of this discussion was Professor K. Jaya Prasad, Professor, Department of International Relations and Politics, Central University of Kerala. Professor Joyti Bhattacharya, Professor, Department of Political Science, and Dean School of Social Sciences, Central University of Assam, Silchar, Assam was present as co-session chairperson. In this book discussion, learned speakers from four major universities of India expressed critical views on the book. Professor Manish, Professor, Chairperson and Dean Center for International Politics, School of International Studies, Central University of Gujarat was present as the first panelist. The second panelist was Prof. Indrajit Singh Sodhi, Professor, Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, the third panelist was Dr. Pratip Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science, Kalyani University, and the fourth panelist was Dr. Sudhir Singh Verma, Assistant Professor, Department of South and Central Asian Studies, Central University of Punjab. The welcome address in this book discussion event was given by Vikash Kumar, Research Scholar, Department of Political Science and Human Rights, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak. This book has been edited by Shantesh Kumar Singh, and Shri Prakash Singh, which has been published by Springer Nature in 2022. This book focuses on non-traditional security in India. This book deals with the ever-evolving, vast and diverse field of non-traditional security. Non-traditional security goes beyond military security and focuses primarily on socio-economic security. Its main concern is humans rather than the state border or territory. Non-traditional security issues have been important catalysts for strengthening, expanding, and developing new modes of security cooperation throughout the Indo-Pacific. States in the region are gradually shifting their strategic views to accommodate previously suppressed, unrecognized, or emerging sources of insecurity. For many states in Asia, the greatest threats to stability are not military intrusions but arise from economic, political, social, or environmental factors. The book focuses on non-traditional securities such as human security, energy security, food security, environmental security, cyber security, health security, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and biological and chemical weapons. All non-traditional security issues are also highly relevant to academics and policy makers. The event was organized by Ganeshi Lal, Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, co-coordinator was Rekha Yadav, Assistant Professor, Hindu Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Sitapur, Lucknow University and second co-coordinator: Mrs. Asha Rajpurohit, Assistant Professor, Government College, Sailana, Madhya Pradesh. The Secretary of the program was Krishna Mohan Upadhyay, Doctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science, Banaras Hindu University, Kashi and the second secretary was Manorama Kuntal, Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia. Two other members of the organizing committee – Rifa Tabusum, Aligarh Muslim University and Sunita V. Yadav, Research Scholar, DTS College Mumbai Maharashtra were present.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Chintamani Mahapatra, while discussing the introduction of the book, said that this event is being organized at the right time and by the right people, because such initiatives by research scholars demonstrate the excellence of academic discourse. Non-traditional Introduction The concept of national security has evolved since the end of the Cold War and the rise of globalization. Although the concept of national security is often invoked by national leaders around the world, the definition of national security is seriously debated by various scholars, national leaders and members of civil society. As a result, the concept of national security is no longer confined to traditional state-centric security concerns focused primarily on external threats, but now adopts an alternative approach that aims to address fundamental challenges to human security in a given state. Changing global realities have given rise to the definition of what is currently termed as ‘non-traditional security’, such a term aims to encompass a variety of threats that threaten the safety and livelihood of citizens. While citizens and governments alike face a myriad of challenges to ensure national security. The event ended with a Q&A session in which all participants asked their questions and these were answered by the speakers.