Overview
- Speaking at the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance in New Delhi on October 31, Ajit Doval called for adapting Patel’s approach to guide India through rapid global and domestic change.
- He argued that the strength of government and institutions underpins national security, warning that authoritarianism, institutional decay and economic failures can precipitate state collapse, as seen in recent upheavals in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- Doval said artificial intelligence will transform society and warfare and cautioned that the technology becomes dangerous without human oversight.
- He asserted that terrorism has been effectively countered in India but urged protection of civil society from cyber threats through stronger digital infrastructure and public awareness.
- Reassessing internal security, he noted that insurgencies in the Northeast have largely subsided, characterized the Manipur crisis as a sectarian conflict requiring dialogue and reconciliation, and linked women’s empowerment to good governance.