ABSTRACT
India fares well in its economic indicators, and thus its projection on the demographic dividend scale is healthy. Nevertheless, the country ranks very low in global hunger, poverty and environmental performance indices, and hence this poses a serious challenge to the ambition of India to be a regional and global power. The importance of obtaining zero hunger and poverty eradication/alleviation. The chapter argues that environmental security is crucial for India’s development and plays a major role in its national security. Delving into the evolving concept of environmental security, the chapter communicates that given India’s developing nation status, inability to combat poverty and hunger, incapability to install advanced infrastructure and that environmental determinism plays a vital role in the country’s case, the environmental threat is not only a non-traditional issue but a traditional one too. Moreover, as India’s two adversaries are located on its northern and western borders, it has been involved in mountain warfare. All the major wars/conflicts that India fought were mountain bound. Thus any altercation in the mountains due to climate change can disrupt its infrastructure placed in the Himalayas. Therefore, it is apposite that New Delhi takes its environmental security seriously and works on combating the threats posed by environmental alteration.
