New Delhi, November 2: India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday said that recent regime changes in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka were the result of poor governance, stressing that effective administration is critical to the stability and security of nation-states.
Speaking at the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture on governance to mark National Unity Day, Doval said that “governance plays a seminal role in the nation-building process and in securing the nation.”
“The rise and fall of great empires, monarchies, oligarchies, aristocracies or democracies is actually a history of their governance,” Doval said. “In the recent cases of regime change through non-constitutional methods in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and others, these were actually cases of poor governance.”
His comments come days after former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged her supporters in the Awami League to boycott the February 2026 elections. The polls are to be held under an interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus.
Doval underscored that the endurance and prosperity of a nation depend on its internal governance. “Governance plays a seminal role in the nation-building process, as well as in securing a nation and helping it achieve its goals and aspirations,” he said.
National Unity Day, or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, is observed annually on October 31 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister and home minister, who played a key role in integrating princely states after independence.
