Author Archives: Bharat Karnad

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About Bharat Karnad

Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, he was Member of the (1st) National Security Advisory Board and the Nuclear Doctrine-drafting Group, and author, among other books of, 'Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security: The Realist Foundations of Strategy', 'India's Nuclear Policy' and most recently, 'Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)'. Educated at the University of California (undergrad and grad), he was Visiting Scholar at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, and Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC.

India’s daily billions

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Admiral Fasih Bokhari, former CNS, Pakistan Navy, and Chairman of the country’s National Accountability Board, is set to release a report December 14 that’s expected to reveal that Rs 6-7 BILLION rupees are DAILY lost in corruption — bribes, payoffs, commissions, etc.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, South Asia | Leave a comment

Tu-22 M3M line for China, Admiral Joshi, General Bikram

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Holidaying from blogging for the month of December, except three things steamed me up, enough any way for me to write this. 1) A knowledgeable friend called to say China had bought off the entire production line of the  Tu-22M3M … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, India's China Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, South Asia | 30 Comments

Gujral, last of the wagah candle-lighters

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Inder Gujral’s demise removes the last of the stalwarts of the 70s-80s era. He was an accidental prime minister — being there at the right time, the right moment, for the concatenation of political forces to hoist him on to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 13 Comments

More on Tipnis

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Sorry, should have mentioned in my previous post something specific that ACM Tipnis mentioned to elaborate on the correct procedure which he stressed.  He said the request to the IAF was communicated through Vice Chief of the Army Staff, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military | 2 Comments

Tipnis seeking exoneration

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Last Sunday (Nov 25) at a seminar called by the Centre for Security & Strategy in Chandigarh, was on the panel alongwith ACM(ret) Anil Tipnis, Gen. (ret) Ved Malik discussing China and how to deal with it. Except Tipnis used … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military | 2 Comments

Nuclear warnings

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad The Indian government rarely heeds warnings, does not prepare for the worst and when the storm hits, flaps about helplessly and reaches for straws to save itself. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Bill Clinton administration came … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Pantji, R.I.P.

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The announcement of KC Pant’s death has come as a shock to many of us who worked with him. I came to know Pantji personally from the mid-1980s when he was Defence Minister. We engaged in discussions on defence matters. When he was … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, disarmament, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 2 Comments

Dealing with transitions

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

It is a relatively rare occasion to have the timelines converge for transitions in governments in the two countries India’s foreign and military policies, for different reasons, revolve around. The relatively greater importance of the United States in the Indian … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Ocean, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | Leave a comment

Army in doldrums

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

                          Bharat Karnad After a rough-hewn career in the field, politics should be pursued by soldiers as an avocation, not a vocation that the workaday politicians have made it The Army has been in the news for a few years … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Politics | 3 Comments

Meaningless cabinet jiggle

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

It is not clear what the cabinet reshuffle that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or, as the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, at an election rally in Himachal Pradesh, wittily called him, Maun Mohan Singh, and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | Leave a comment