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.

Bharat Karnad at CNAS/GWU Conference on ‘Rising Powers’ in Washington, DC, January 23-24, 2012

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad’s Brief Responses to Questions posed Indian panelists (in the lead-up to the) Center for New American Security/Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University conference on “India as a Global Power: Contending Views from India,” Elliott School, Washington, D.C., January … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rethinking Indian Policies Towards Pakistan

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

For a transcript of a talk by me at an event jointly hosted by the Institute of National Strategic Studies, US National Defense University, and the Atlantic Council, and the Q & A session that followed, in Washington DC on Nov 14, … Continue reading →

Posted in India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 5 Comments

A general mess

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad The negatives of replacing the selection system will be strongly resisted by military and politicians as both will perceive it as disruptive While the colonial-era tradition of Indian Army officers not discussing women or politics — issues with … Continue reading →

Posted in India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics | Leave a comment

India must learn to assert

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

What’s with us as cricket team, as people, as government, as country? An objective take would be that we are a bunch of losers. Passivity, defensive-mindedness, meekness, and timidity are qualities that historically have characterised India and Indians, with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics | 2 Comments

Looking West, as far as Israel

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The Indian Minister for External Affairs, S. M. Krishna, is visiting Israel starting January 9. The good thing is that such visits these days occasion no public teeth-gnashing by leaders of political parties that promote themselves as protectors of Indian … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 4 Comments

Passive-Defeatist Attitude, true on the cricket field as in foreign & military policy sphere

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

The sad and humilating spectacle of Dhoni and his team of losers being bent and beaten by a near new, relatively inexperienced, Australian cricket team  in Melbourne was par for the course. Our “heroes” complemented the Aussies’ “take no prisoner” attitude, … Continue reading →

Posted in India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

Padma Awards Farce

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

The late P.K. Iyengar, former chairman of the atomic energy commission, head of the theoretical group at BARC and father of the implosion-triggered fission device tested in May 1974 — incidentally, still the only proven weapon in the country’s nuclear … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Politics | 4 Comments

A few fatal flaws

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

When does a flawed system of government become a threat to the security of the state and the wellbeing of the people? This is a question that must now concern all citizens witnessing the country’s dangerous decline in certain salient … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Politics, Internal Security | 1 Comment

Playing hardball with China

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once again pooh-poohed the threat from China, this time on Dec 14 in Parliament which undercuts the raison détre  for the India-Japan-United States strategic discussion. Originally planned for mid-October, it was postponed at the eleventh hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

A Big Deal

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

The eventually twenty-two billion dollar (not ten billion dollar, as has been reported) deal for the Medium-range Multi-Role Combat Aircraft could become a Bofors-like political liability for the ruling Congress Party, if it fails to get it right. Inordinate amounts … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West | 4 Comments