NEW DELHI: Fifty-two years after it was first mooted, and over six years after its foundation stone was laid, the Indian National Defence University (INDU) is still missing in action due to politico-bureaucratic apathy and wrangling.Sources said there has been hardly any progress since the draft INDU or Indian Defence University Bill was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office and cabinet secretariat in December 2017 after protracted and contentious inter-ministerial consultations. “The bill will have to be cleared by the cabinet and Parliament for the INDU to be eventually set up,” said a source.The country certainly needs a ‘world-class’ INDU to inject some much-needed strategic culture in governance as well as encourage robust cross-linkages between the executive and academia. Almost all major countries, from the US to China, have national defence varsities to develop national security leaders as well as undertake long-term strategic studies and threat assessments.“China strategically thinks at least 50 years ahead. In India, we at best stumble from election to election. After approving the post of the CDS (chief of defence staff), the government should now push for the defence varsity. India suffers from a lack of integrated, multi-dimensional approach to shape long-term strategic thought, culture and actions,” said a top defence official, who did not want to be named.Experts said India, apart from the requisite economic growth and systematic building of military capabilities, also requires to educate its political leaders, bureaucrats and military brass in strategic thinking and security issues, both external and internal, if it aspires to become a superpower . “We need politico-military thinkers and analysts, who do not live in silos, to advise the country’s top political leadership on long-term strategic challenges,” said an expert.There was some rejoicing when the foundation stone of INDU was laid in May 2013 with much fanfare at Binola, near Manesar in Gurgaon district of Haryana, by the then PM Manmohan Singh . The varsity was supposed to come up, at a preliminary cost of Rs 395 crore, on 202 acres.A little infrastructure development on the acquired land began in December 2015, which was followed by the government putting the draft INDU bill online for public consultations in August 2016. “But not much happened after that. The estimated initial cost stands at well over Rs 2,000 crore now,” said a source.The fully-autonomous INDU was supposed to be headed by a three-star general, first from the Army and then from the IAF and Navy in turns, with the President as the visitor and defence minister as the chancellor.With 66% of students drawn from the armed forces and the rest from other government agencies, police and civilians, the varsity was to initially set up four new institutions — School of National Security Studies, School of Defence Technology, School of Defence Management and Centre for Distance and Open Learning — in the main campus.It was also planned that the existing National Defence College (Delhi), College of Defence Management ( Secunderabad ), Defence Services Staff College (Wellington) and National Defence Academy (Khadakwasla) would be affiliated to it.