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.

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

Bharat Karnad Explains Why India Must Fix China

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

An ‘Offensive Defence’ podcast may be of interest:

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Cyber & Space, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Nepal, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Tibet, Trade with China, UN, United States, Vietnam, war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 28 Comments

GE 414 (EDE?) versus new Safran engine — the larger strategic dynamic and calculations

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Prime Minister Modi and US President Biden in a deep clinch in Washington] Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Munnabhai-type “jaddoo ki jhappi” is what, in my 2018 book (Staggering Forward), I called a “diplomatic innovation”. It has succeeded beyond measure. After … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, 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 Ocean, Indian state/administration, Indo-Pacific, Islamic countries, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, sanctions, society, South Asia, 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., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 42 Comments

Military Theaterisation: A receding horizon

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[General Anil S. Chauhan at his ceremonial investiture as CDS] At the United Service Institution of India yesterday, General Anil Singh Chauhan, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) delivered the Major General Samir Sinha Memorial Lecture. Tasked with integrating and … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian state/administration, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Military/military advice, society, South Asia | Tagged | 27 Comments

Modi’s visit to America: Springing India from a trap, or into one?

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Modi & Biden, Jaishankar looking on] One thing is certain: As Washington prepares to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a State Visit June 21, the Joe Biden Administration is intent on succeeding where previous administrations have failed, namely, in … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, 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, Indo-Pacific, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 33 Comments