Category Archives: Asian geopolitics

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

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

Nuclear decisionmaking 1964-74 – discussion at IDSA

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

As part of the nuclear history project, an hour-long video of panel discussion at IDSA, Oct 10, 2012,  chaired by Inder Malhotra and involving Joseph Pilat of the Los Alamos lab, K. Santhanam, Vice Admiral (ret) KK Nayyar, and yours truly. Recently uloaded … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, disarmament, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 8 Comments

Republicans better for India

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

It matters to Indian national interest which person and party wins the presidential elections in the United States, not for the usual reasons of the this or that winner being more friendly to this country. But because, generally, Republicans are … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 2 Comments