Monthly Archives: August 2017

Losing the perception war at Dok La

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Indian and Chinese soldiers milling around on the Doklam plateau) At around a quarter-to-two in the afternoon today (Aug 28), a joint statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi and the Zhongnanhai in Beijing announced the “expeditious … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, South Asia, United States, US. | 45 Comments

10 days to fueling the Aridhaman

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Arihant, underway) The second indigenous Arihant-class SSBN, INS Aridhaman, is completely outfitted and ready — the production time of some 10 years from the time when the special steel was first cut at the Vizag special projects facility. It doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Bhutan, China, China military, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Vietnam, Weapons | 44 Comments

Indo-US 2×2, etc.

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

The Rajya Sabha television panel discussion on the “2×2” forum (involving the Indian defence and external affairs minister and the US Secretaries of Defence and of State) as a new vehicle to advance Indo-US relations below.

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 1 Comment

Jihad to the finish in Afghanistan?

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

  The US will hereafter forego foreign adventurism and wars to “rebuild countries in our own image”. But in Afghanistan, American forces, the US President Donald Trump announced, will fight on and finish the job of eliminating the terrorists. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Intelligence, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 11 Comments

Finally, Vietnam has the Brahmos

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

The Vietnamese Government today confirmed that it is in possession of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile armed with conventional warheads that the Indian government has taken an age to transfer to Hanoi. Vietnam is the one country China fears most … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Missiles, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Weapons | 32 Comments

DARIN – AESA coupling, and Brahmos ALCM

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Informed that the entirely indigenous DARIN-III navattack system is now integrated with an AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar with the Israeli 2052 computer, on a Jaguar. This is great news. The slight uncertainty about the AESA radar is whether … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Israel, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 14 Comments

The Realpolitik Thrust of Nehru’s Foreign Policy

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Below is the videographed lecture of mine on this topic on Augst 8, 2017 at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, uploaded to youtube.com.

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 15 Comments

Time of the greatest danger is now!

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Acting defence minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday in Parliament that the country had learned the 1962 lessons well and the Indian armed services were well prepared for a border war. That may be so, but the capability to fight is … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Latin America, Missiles, Russia, society, South Asia, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 41 Comments

Oust Yameen from Male before it is too late

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Yameen with Modi in April 2016) President Abdulla Yameen of Maldives is in political trouble, having lost his majority in parliament. He is however preventing the elected reps who have abandoned him from joining up with the opposition party MPs … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Japan, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, SAARC, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, West Asia | 8 Comments

IAF going for more Jaguars?

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

The other day a reporter for a foreign journal said he was checking out a story. It is a fantastic story not because it is improbable but because it would show up the Indian Air Force in very bad light. … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Western militaries | 12 Comments