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.

America’s trump card in the subcontinent

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The Four-man “Abottabad Commission” to inquire into reasons why the US Special Forces could hunt down Osama bin Laden, swoop down all the way from Jalalabad on his safe-house just outside the gates of the Pakistan Military Academy, kill him, … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Special Forces, United States, US., Western militaries | Leave a comment

More on ASMP-A, Brahmos, HCM MIRV-ed warheads

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Missed a zero! With hypersonic cruise glide MIRVed warheads (not glide-bombs) on A-5 and successor A-6, the range actually is increased by 2000-3000 kms (not 200 kms as mentioned in my previous blog on the subject). So, an 8000 km … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian para-military forces, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US. | 2 Comments

India’s nuclear amateurism

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Secretary of State John Kerry reminded New Delhi that the United States expects India to toe its line on non-proliferation and get a move on in signing the Missile Technology Control Regime, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Fissile … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Western militaries | 29 Comments

France loading ASMP-A on Rafale

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Now what do we hear? There’s tantalizing talk of France offering, as sweetener for the Rafale MMRCA deal still hanging fire, the Air-launched ASMP-A (Air-Sol Moyenne Portee) cruise missile. The twin objective could also be to displace the Brahmos with … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer | 2 Comments

Kerry and India surrendering its strategic options

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

A nearly full house at the Stein Auditorium, Habitat Centre, last evening (June 23) heard US Secretary of State, John Kerry, talk like Al Gore — about the desperate need to preserve our pristine environment with clean energy! It took … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, Defence Industry, disarmament, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Further on the Prague agenda context for Manmohan S’ possible moves

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

I ought to have mentioned that Manmohan Singh regime’s moves to sign CTBT and get going on FMCT is in the context of Obama’s declaration in Berlin yesterday that he’d like to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin nuclear drawdowns … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, disarmament, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian military, South Asia, United States, US. | 5 Comments

India’s nuclear security imperiled by Manmohan Govt

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so desperately desired a Washington visit to retrieve what little remains of his, originally slight, reputation, that he quite literally invited himself to America, forcing Obama to extend an official invitation for sometime in September this … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 5 Comments

Kerry’s stilted agenda

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit for a strategic dialogue with his counterpart Salman Khurshid is unlikely to fetch much by way of results in the most part because, with general elections looming, almost any issue with an American … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Western militaries | Leave a comment

Muddle of succession politics

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Contextualizing L.K. Advani’s truculence and sulk-sodden antics that have prevented a smooth transfer of power to a new generation of leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party is the perennial problem afflicting all politics in the subcontinent – the absence of … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Internal Security | 4 Comments

A curdled old codger and BJP-NDA’s game-theoretic future

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Much of the contretemps in the BJP boils down to the thwarted ambition of the one-time “loh purush” who, with time, has rusted into a heap of scrap metal but entertains notions of himself as the central pillar of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics | 6 Comments