Monthly Archives: May 2020

A Cowering Response To China’s Provocations May Lose India More Territory

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[Pangong Tso] It is not hard to see why China decided at this time to pick at the scab of disputed border with India by starting ruckuses along the length of it at Daulat Beg Oldi, Galwan Valley, the Pangong … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons | 47 Comments

Why China is doing what it is doing and Delhi is doing little

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[An Indian soldier stopping a PLA soldier — a mobile pic hurriedly snapped] The Press reported that on Saturday May 23 the Army Chief, MM Naravane, briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the state of affairs in the Ladakh sector … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Brazil, Central Asia, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Islamic countries, Japan, Latin America, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Technology transfer, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam | 34 Comments

Uncertain outcomes from Sitharaman’s latest Defence industrial reform announcements

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[Tejas assembly line] The announcement by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman that there would be a “ban” on imports of armaments was music to my ears and meant that something I have long been advocating had finally come to pass. This … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 37 Comments

An “atm nirbhar” (self-sufficient) India, great! In armaments too, Mr Prime Minister? – Augmented

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[Modi at the DefExpo 2020] Whether by coincidence or design, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two most recent speeches — first on the National Panchayat Day and the second, the TV address yesterday which, incidentally, was the third one on the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Cyber & Space, 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 Navy, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, space & cyber, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 42 Comments

Pakistan’s diplomatic counter-offensive

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

India has feasted diplomatically on Pakistan’s complicity in terrorist acts over the past two decades. There was a credible enough case made for the UN Financial Assistance Task Force (FATF) to put Pakistan on its sanctions’ ‘grey list’ owing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Decision-making, domestic politics, Geopolitics, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Islamic countries, MEA/foreign policy, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Terrorism, UN, United States, US., West Asia | 27 Comments

Embraer available, will India grab it? Nah!

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[ERJ-145 — one of Embraer Company’s bestselling medium haul passenger aircraft] Twitter has been justifiably agog with the news of Dr RK Tyagi, former Chairman, HAL, writing to minister for civil aviation Hardip Puri, urging him quickly to get the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Latin America, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, Weapons | 32 Comments

From the source of wonky ideas, another one!

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

[Trump and Angela Merkl in smooch mode; Modi looks on] With every passing oped of his, it becomes more difficult to take Ram Madhav, General Secretary of the ruling BJP and sometime RSS pracharak, seriously. The upside, however, is these … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, Russia, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Western militaries | 11 Comments