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.

How Modi, Jaishankar & Doval should deal with Canada & America | Bharat Karnad — podcast

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[EAM S Jaishankar with US Secretry of State Anthony Blinken] Podcast with Arihant on the Samvaad forum at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytKuuleGBtI May be of interest.

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Internal Security, Israel, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Missiles, Myanmar, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, sanctions, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, Tibet, Trade with China, UN, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 17 Comments

Time to declare Canada “epicentre of international terrorism”; extra-territorial killings are legal when a motivated foreign govt does not act on information

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Justin Trudeau seeking Sikh votes] A Sept 23 Washington Post story (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/23/targeted-killing-canada-india-nijjar/) regarding the killing in Canada of the Khalistani terrorist Harmeet Singh Nijjar quotes a “former senior U.S. intelligence official” as saying “This is Modi looking at the world … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, Culture, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Iran and West Asia, Islamic countries, Israel, MEA/foreign policy, NRIs, Pakistan, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., West Asia | 62 Comments

How the West will use “Khalistan” to pressure India

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Canadian Sikhs demanding Khalistan] “Khali stan”, I recall the late Khushwant Singh guffawing, “is the vacant space between the ears of some Jat Sikhs safely settled in Canada, America and Britain!” He had in his hand a map he had … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian Politics, Indian state/administration, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, NRIs, Pakistan, Pakistan military, sanctions, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 20 Comments

G20 takeaway: Watch out Middle Kingdom, India is rising!

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

Global Express (New Indian Express) podcast hosted by Neena Gopal, recorded yesterday, uploaded today with Lt Gen Anil Ahuja (Retd) and yours truly

Posted in Africa, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, 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 Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Islamic countries, Latin America, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Myanmar, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Trade with China, United States, US., Vietnam, war & technology, Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 19 Comments

The ludicrousness of the name-change for ‘India’

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

The Narendra Modi government apparently does not know when it is ahead, and why not to retard the country’s rise by a self-inflicted wound that may appear trivial — such as changing the name of the country — but is … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Indo-Pacific, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Pakistan, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., West Asia | 22 Comments

Xi & Modi — at cross purposes, G20 summit and beyond

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Modi & Xi] New Delhi is all decked up in Indian calender art aesthetic — an eyesore to many. The G-20 summit will crown the many ministerial meetings on numerous subjects (energy, terrorism, etc) held in the past few months, … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Brazil, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Russia, russian military, sanctions, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Western militaries | 15 Comments

Doordarshan spoils Chandrayan’s moon landing for the world but India comes up tops anyway

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Chandrayan approaching moonscape] Trust the ridiculous public sector Doordarshan to screw it up. Just as the lander got to within metres of the moon’s surface, instead of focussing the cameras on the approaching lunar surface captured by the onboard cameras, … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, space & cyber, Technology transfer, United States, US. | 45 Comments

Subtracting/Adding to BRICS: What makes sense?

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[BRICS Summiteers] The two-day 15th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa starting tomorrow (Aug 23) and is a featured event in the busy international calender for many reasons. One of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Brazil, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, 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, Indo-Pacific, Islamic countries, Latin America, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Trade with China, United States, US., West Asia, Western militaries | 20 Comments

Stalling the porcupine

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Ukrainians in an unequal fight] Until yesterday, the Western media reported how the Ukrainian counteroffensive was galloping along, steadily pushing the Russian troops eastwards,and how it was just a matter of time before the lead Ukrainian elements wouldbreak through the … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Missiles, Russia, russian military, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 43 Comments

France gets a sweetheart sub deal, makes bogus claims, and atmnirbharta gets it in the neck

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[French Barracuda-class SSN] The mystery of the draft joint communique featuring mention of the deal for three “Scorpene” submarines and 26 navalised Rafale aircraft, which mention went missing from the final document issued at the end of the state visit … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 41 Comments