Defence diplomacy
Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Defence diplomacy is the use of a country's armed forces and defence ministry in peacetime to build friendship and trust with other countries. It works through joint military exercises, training, capacity-building (helping partners build their own skills) and intelligence sharing (passing on secret security information). It does not come from any Article or Act. It is a tool of foreign policy, and it helps a country gain influence and partners without going to war or joining a military bloc.
Example
India and Malaysia co-chair the Experts' Working Group on Counter-Terrorism of the ADMM-Plus for 2024-2027. The ADMM-Plus is the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus, a forum of the 10 ASEAN members and 8 Dialogue Partners. Under this cycle, a table-top exercise (a planning drill done on paper) is planned in Malaysia in 2026 and a field training exercise in India in 2027. This puts India's Act East Policy into practice through defence ties.
Don't confuse with
- Military alliance: members of an alliance, such as the Cold War blocs NATO and the Warsaw Pact, promise to fight together. Defence diplomacy builds cooperation without any such promise, so it fits with India's non-alignment and strategic autonomy.
- Military intervention: this means sending troops to act inside another country, as India did in the Maldives in Operation Cactus in 1988 at that government's request. Defence diplomacy is cooperation in peacetime and does not involve combat.