By Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain , Speaker at Policy Boot Camp

This article was published in the The New Indian Express

CHANGE IN PUBLIC PERCEPTION ABOUT STRATEGIC AFFAIRS SIGNALS ARRIVAL OF A NEW INDIA

Read the full article on The New Indian Express

The strategic culture of India, in my opinion, was so poor and the ignorance on issues of geopolitical affairs so profound that I wondered whether people read beyond the newspaper headlines.

By Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain

A few years ago when I entered the world of strategic analysis, I had an enduring complaint. I always felt people in India, even the better educated ones, had no idea about strategic matters and no interest either. They were content to pursue their individual activities happily with the knowledge that there was someone else out there who was responsible to look after their security.

The strategic culture of India, in my opinion, was so poor and the ignorance on issues of geopolitical and geo-strategic affairs so profound that I wondered whether people read beyond the newspaper headlines.

Not any longer. Things appear to have turned around in public perception and it’s largely because of media—print, electronic and social.