India needs a defence universities alliance

This article is authored by Sudhanshu Kumar and Monojit Das.

The UK’s decision to establish a Defence Universities Alliance marks more than another academic initiative. It reflects a growing recognition that national security is no longer shaped solely by soldiers, weapons or military headquarters. It is equally influenced by universities, researchers, innovation ecosystems and the next generation of strategic thinkers. In this context, it is very important that India should take note. For over a decade, India has spoken about creating an Indian National Defence University (INDU). The proposal, first approved in principle in 2012, envisioned a premier institution dedicated to higher military education, strategic studies and national security research. While a few specialised courses and training programmes have emerged over the years through different institutions, the university itself remains unrealised.

Education

While India awaits the final institutional design of the INDU, several foundational questions will naturally take time to settle. These include its governance structure, leadership model, academic framework, faculty recruitment, the balance between military and civilian participation in teaching and administration, and even whether the institution ultimately retains the name INDU or adopts an Indian language identity in line with recent national naming practices. None of these deliberations should delay the broader task of building India's defence knowledge ecosystem. A Defence Universities Alliance could be established in the interim under the aegis of the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff through the existing INDU Directorate or another suitable tri-services institutional mechanism. Such an alliance would allow collaboration, research and academic networking to begin immediately while the university itself takes shape.

The delay is unfortunate, but it also presents an opportunity to rethink the larger objective. India should not wait for a single university campus to become operational before strengthening its defence academic ecosystem. Instead, it can begin with a more practical and scalable approach by establishing a Defence Universities Alliance that connects existing universities, military institutions, think tanks and industry partners under a common framework. India already possesses many of the building blocks. What it lacks is an institutional mechanism that enables them to work together.

Across the country, universities have steadily expanded teaching and research in national security, strategic affairs, defence studies and international relations. Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of International Studies hosts one of India's most respected centres for strategic and security studies. The Central University of Gujarat has developed programmes in defence and strategic studies. Savitribai Phule Pune University has long maintained a tradition of defence and strategic research. The University of Madras continues to contribute through its Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, while the University of Allahabad has also sustained academic engagement with defence studies. Universities in Jammu and Kashmir have increasingly contributed to scholarship on border management, conflict, internal security and regional geopolitics, subjects that are central to India's strategic environment.

Alongside these public institutions, private universities have invested significantly in international affairs and diplomacy. OP Jindal Global University, for instance, has emerged as an important platform for scholarship on international relations, diplomacy, global governance and foreign policy. Several other institutions are also strengthening programmes in emerging technologies, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and public policy, all of which increasingly intersect with national security. Yet these institutions largely operate in isolation. Research remains fragmented. Faculty collaborations are limited. Student exchanges are rare. Defence practitioners seldom engage with universities beyond invited lectures. Military officers pursue higher education through separate channels, while civilian researchers often struggle to access policy networks. Students interested in defence careers frequently lack structured pathways into research organisations, think tanks or government institutions.

This disconnect weakens India's strategic knowledge ecosystem. A Defence Universities Alliance could help bridge these gaps without requiring substantial new infrastructure. Instead of creating another institution from scratch, it would connect existing strengths. Universities could jointly develop specialised courses, organise collaborative research projects, facilitate faculty exchanges and create interdisciplinary programmes linking engineering, law, political science, economics and emerging technologies with national security studies.

More importantly, such an alliance should extend beyond academia. India already has an impressive network of defence think tanks and professional military institutions. The Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) has produced valuable work on jointness, emerging warfare and strategic affairs. The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and several other service-linked institutions possess deep domain expertise and maintain close engagement with practitioners. Independent organisations such as the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have similarly contributed to policy debates on geopolitics, technology and security. These institutions should become active partners in any future alliance.

Beyond internships and fellowships, they could jointly supervise dissertations, organise annual strategic research competitions, establish visiting scholar programmes, co-develop policy briefs and provide structured mentorship for postgraduate researchers. Such initiatives would create a continuous pipeline linking classrooms with policymaking and operational expertise. The benefits would extend well beyond strategic studies. Today's national security challenges require expertise from multiple disciplines. Artificial Intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, space systems, cybersecurity, biotechnology, critical minerals, energy security, maritime governance and supply chain resilience all demand collaboration between scientists, engineers, lawyers, economists and strategic analysts. No single university or think tank can build this capacity independently.

An alliance model encourages precisely this kind of interdisciplinary cooperation. It would also support India's broader vision of becoming an innovation-driven defence power. Initiatives such as Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence, the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme and the defence industrial corridors have already sought to strengthen indigenous capability. Universities must become a more integral part of this innovation ecosystem by connecting research with defence applications and encouraging students to work on real-world strategic challenges.

The objective is not to militarise universities or compromise academic independence. On the contrary, vibrant democracies benefit when independent scholarship informs national security debates. Universities provide space for rigorous analysis, critical thinking and long-term research that complements the operational experience of defence institutions. Bringing these communities together strengthens policymaking rather than narrowing it. The proposed INDU, whenever it becomes operational, will undoubtedly play an important role. However, it should become the anchor of a much larger national network rather than the sole centre of defence education.

Building such a network need not wait for legislation, new campuses or large financial commitments. The ministry of defence, in partnership with the ministry of education, could begin by identifying universities with established strengths in strategic and security studies, inviting leading defence think tanks as institutional partners and creating thematic working groups on areas such as cybersecurity, space security, defence technology, maritime affairs, border management and emerging military doctrines. Annual conferences, student fellowships, collaborative publications and joint research grants could gradually transform these individual institutions into a coherent national ecosystem.

History suggests that transformative national capabilities are rarely built by a single institution. The modern internet itself emerged from sustained collaboration between the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency and a network of leading research universities through ARPANET. What began as a defence research initiative eventually transformed the global digital landscape. The lesson is not that India should replicate the American model, but that governments can achieve strategic breakthroughs by connecting universities, researchers and innovators around long-term national priorities.

India already possesses the essential ingredients. The new leadership within the tri-services establishment has an opportunity to take the first practical step by constituting a Defence Universities Alliance under the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, preferably through the existing INDU Directorate. The initial framework need not be exhaustive or perfect. Participating universities could nominate senior academic representatives to identify priority areas for collaboration in research, curriculum development, student exchanges, internships, faculty engagement and policy dialogue. Think tanks, military training institutions and industry partners could be gradually integrated into the network, allowing the ecosystem to evolve organically rather than waiting for a complete institutional blueprint.

As the alliance matures, its governance structure, membership criteria, thematic priorities and institutional arrangements can all be refined. Additional universities and specialised institutions can be brought into the fold, while the eventual INDU can assume the role of its academic anchor once operational. Waiting for every institutional detail to be settled risks delaying an idea whose time has already arrived. India should not wait any longer to begin building the collaborative defence knowledge ecosystem that will strengthen strategic research, nurture future leaders and contribute to national security for decades to come.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Sudhanshu Kumar, Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, ministry of defence, New Delhi and Monojit Das, member, Armed Forces Tribunal (Principal Bench) Bar Association.