Ajit Doval Says National Willpower Is as Critical as Military Strength in Modern Warfare

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has argued that the real test of a nation’s security lies not only in weapons, technology or troop strength, but in the morale and willpower of its people. Speaking at the fifth convocation of Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar on April 14, 2026, Doval said one of the biggest mistakes in assessing a country’s comprehensive national power is underestimating the spirit, resilience and awareness of its citizens. He delivered the remarks after receiving an honorary doctorate at the ceremony attended by President Droupadi Murmu.

Doval framed warfare as a contest that goes far beyond battlefield hardware. He said the core objective of war is to break the enemy’s morale and compel acceptance of terms, arguing that even militarily superior powers can fail when they misread the determination of local populations. To illustrate the point, he referred to the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US experience in Vietnam, and America’s inability to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan despite overwhelming technological and military advantages.

The broader message of his address was that national security is a collective enterprise rather than the exclusive domain of the armed forces, police or intelligence agencies. Doval said India is witnessing what he described as a “new awakening,” in which citizens are becoming more conscious of their own role in national security. In his telling, public awareness, discipline, commitment and mental strength are not peripheral virtues; they are central to national morale and, ultimately, to strategic outcomes.

He also gave the graduating students a stark reminder of the seriousness of the profession they are entering. In one of the most striking lines of the speech, Doval said there are “no silver medals” in national security, meaning that the stakes are absolute: victory preserves history, defeat erases it. That formulation reflected his larger argument that the security ecosystem demands not only technical competence, but also character, teamwork and a very high degree of dedication.

The significance of the speech was sharpened by the wider context of the convocation itself. President Droupadi Murmu used the same event to stress that India’s security environment is changing rapidly, shaped increasingly by cybercrime, phishing, artificial intelligence, digital trust and self-reliant defence capability. She said institutions like Rashtriya Raksha University now carry greater responsibility because strategic studies are expanding beyond war and peace into areas such as defence manufacturing, emerging technologies, supply chains and cyber security.

Taken together, the event presented a broader Indian view of modern security: hard power still matters, but it is no longer enough by itself. Military strength, technological sophistication, internal resilience, cyber preparedness and national morale are being treated as part of the same strategic equation. Doval’s remarks therefore were not just a motivational speech to graduates; they amounted to a concise statement of how India’s security establishment increasingly sees the nature of conflict in the 2020s. This last line is an inference drawn from his speech and the accompanying remarks made by the President at the same convocation.

Sources:
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2251954&lang=1&reg=3
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/nations-willpower-as-important-as-military-strength-for-ensuring-security-says-nsa-ajit-doval/articleshow/130261779.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/objective-of-every-war-is-to-break-willpower-of-a-country-nsa-ajit-doval-10636917/
https://theprint.in/india/nations-willpower-as-important-as-military-strength-for-ensuring-security-says-nsa-doval/2904865/
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2251319&lang=1&reg=3