India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has said "poor governance" was the driving factor behind the uprisings which led to the fall of governments in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in recent years.
Delivering the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Lecture on governance to mark India's National Unity Day yesterday, Doval said governance plays a crucial role in nation-building and in ensuring a country's stability and progress.
Citing examples from both history and the present day, he said, "The rise and fall of the great empires, monarchies, oligarchies, aristocracies or democracies is actually a history of their governance."
"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."
Doval identified authoritarianism, injustice, and discrimination as key causes of state failure.
"Authoritarianism that is oppressive, with discriminatory laws, poor delivery of justice, marginalisation of populations and human rights violations, contributes to the fall of a nation," he said.
"There is no accountability. People do not know why they are doing what they are doing... This is how the decay starts," Doval said.