The spotlight is suddenly on India's Paramilitary and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). There are huge, varied, nuanced national security challenges at India’s doorsteps. Some of these challenges have confronted India for as long as its independence, if not earlier. Some have evolved over decades to now peak into criticalities viz, the Naxalite menace and the China-Pakistan two-front threat, where for the first time, both of India's neighbours have joined hands in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. India's PMF and CAPF, therefore, are now the pivot and lodestar of India’s counter to its gargantuan national security challenges.

This book is not only relevant to the times but is an argument for the PMF and CAPF to sharpen and hone its skills for it to perform the role it is cut out to. With key recommendations and analysis, the author charts out clear road maps for each constituent of the PMF and CAPF in better execution of their tasks in these critical times.

The PMF and CAPF, today, occupy India's national security landscape. It has to become a viable national security instrument to enable its armed forces to provide deterrence to a rising China, increasingly cohorting militarily with Pakistan. Will the PMF and CAPF be the phalanx it is meant to be?