New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said that the absence of a written national strategic policy does not imply that the country lacks a strategic policy.

Speaking at the release of book "Crafting a New Indian Art of War," Gen Chauhan contested the insistence on having a national security strategy in written format.

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"When we talk about national security strategy, I believe it consists of policy, processes, and practices to succeed. In our country, probably all three are addressed. The only thing missing is a written policy. I don't know why people insist on that," Gen Chauhan said.

If we didn't have a policy, we wouldn't have succeeded as we did in revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he asserted.

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Chauhan cited the "successful" combating of COVID-19 in a country of 1.4 billion people in support of his argument that India was not bereft of a comprehensive policy.

"If there was no strategy behind it, how did we achieve our goal? Even the Balakot airstrike and the Uri airstrike — if there was no strategy, how did we do it? So there is a strategy, but what is missing is probably a written document. And a written document actually doesn't count," he emphasised.

Citing the example of Israel, he said, "They (Israel) don't have a written policy, but they have a policy and follow that policy."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)