Monthly Archives: December 2013

Bring Washington to Its Senses

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

One wishes that in matters of terrorist strikes and diplomatic provocations of the kind that the Devyani Khobragade affair represents, the Indian government had the wit and long discovered the merit of reacting instantly and in tit-for-tat manner. Thus, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, Northeast Asia, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism, United States, US. | 6 Comments

Restoring parity with tit-for tat

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The extraordinary mistreatment of the Indian Deputy Consul-General (DCG) in New York City, now transferred to the Indian Mission at the United Nations to get full-immunity cover, Devyani Khobragade, is at once more and less than it has been made … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 7 Comments

Flesh Out Message, Mr Modi

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Like the enraged Iraqis who a decade ago pulled down the giant statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and agitating Ukrainians last week uprooted Lenin from his pedestal in central Kiev, the voters in three heartland states and in Delhi … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Indian Politics, society, South Asia, West Asia | 2 Comments

Tragedy of the Land Without a Strategy

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Book review (belatedly reproduced here): Jaswant Singh, India at Risk: Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of Security Policy [New Delhi: Rainlight-Rupa, 2013], 292 pages Published in ‘India Today’, November 11, 2013 ————— “What is history?”, asked Edward Hallet Carr, the English … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, United States, US. | Leave a comment

General Ballistics

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Book Review: General V.K. Singh with Kunal Verma, Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography [New Delhi: Aleph Book Co., 2013], 364 pages. Published in ‘India Today’, December 18, 2013 ———— Jawaharlal Nehru with great perspicacity noted in 1948 that accepting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, civil-military relations, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Sri Lanka | Leave a comment

AAP ka BJP!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The best thing would have been for BJP to win 36 seats in Delhi and for AAP to be a vigilant opposition. It would have compelled BJP to try and install a good e-governance system they have promised in double … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Indian Politics, Internal Security | Leave a comment

$2 Billion and counting…

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Documents by Agusta-Westland in an Italian court dealing with IAF’s scam deal for the AW 100 helicopter for VVIP use, mention “the Family” in political India which had to be paid off for the deal to go through. The talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, South Asia | 3 Comments

ADZ violations — Chinese and Indian reactions

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Most countries announce their Air Defence Zones (ADZs).The idea being to demarcate the air space as an early warning system. Constant surveillance over the zone pinpoints intruder aircraft on possibly suspicious missions. If well inside the ADZ, fighter aircraft are … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China military, civil-military relations, Cyber & Space, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Air Force, South Asia, United States, US., Western militaries | 4 Comments