Category Archives: China military

Trump America will compel India to be self-dependent, a good thing!

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

An extraordinary political comeback by Donald J Trump — a convicted felon and an out and out conman who opened his mouth only to spew lies and rubbish, was re-elected 47th President by the bulk of American voters who cared … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, domestic politics, 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 Politics, Indo-Pacific, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 44 Comments

No breakthrough! China stringing India along

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Jaishankar with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi] Woke up this morning, and was startled by Indian newspaper headlines heralding a new dawn in Sino-Indian relations. All the breathless reporting about agreement being reached on the “patrolling points “northeast of the … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Taiwan, Technology transfer, Tibet, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 79 Comments

Plan for Partial Theaterisation is Unsatisfactory on Many Counts

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[CDS Gen Anil Chauhan with CAS, ACM VR Chaudhari, CNS Adm Hari Kumar, COAS Gen Manoj Pande — left to right] Earlier this year in June, in an hour-long session with the Chief of Defence Staff in his South Block … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence procurement, domestic politics, 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, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 44 Comments

Mr. MIRV — Dr. RN Agarwal, RIP

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Dr RN Agarwal] Small in stature, with a wizened appearance, Dr. RN Agarwal looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings. He is the only bania — from a community that routinely produces traders and businessmen partaking of … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan nuclear forces, sanctions, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 78 Comments

Modiji be the Bridge for Iran-Gulf, Not Peacemaker in Ukraine!

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Good friends] An AR-15 slug grazed US Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ear. 2 cms to the right and the world would have witnessed in real time the splattering of his brains by the 5.56mm shell fired from 150 yards out … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indo-Pacific, Iran and West Asia, Islamic countries, Israel, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments

IAF — so unprepared for the future, it is ridiculous!

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Rafale in IAF] Intrigued to find an op/ed with the title “Drawing borders in the air” in the Indian Express (1 July 2024) by Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury (Retd). The title evoked for me the writings of Lt Gen Francis … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indo-Pacific, Israel, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Tibet, war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | Tagged , , , , | 55 Comments

Too few Integrated Theatre Commands, Need for a land-based air command, and a trimming of the role of Chiefs of Staff

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[CDS, General Anil Chauhan, seeking blessings!] Finally, the Modi government ended the smouldering resistance within the military by notifying the Inter-Services Organisations Act (ISO). I had suggested some 20 years ago to the KC Pant-chaired government committee studying higher defence … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Defence procurement, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, 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, Intelligence, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Myanmar, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, South East Asia, space & cyber, Special Forces, Strategic Forces Command, Tibet, Western militaries | 9 Comments

Respectfully, Shriman PMji, Rajnathji, will you please shut the f**k up!

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[The Two Amigos — NSAs Ajit Doval and Jake Sullivan] All of a not so sudden, we have news of India covertly creating alleged mayhem all over the map — in Pakistan by supposedly bumping off a bunch of jihadi … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, corruption, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, space & cyber, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 25 Comments

FINALLY, Divyastra, 19 years late. Next up — Thermonuclear testing

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[MIRVed Agni-5 launch] FINALLY, the Multiple Independently-targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) system-armed Agni-5 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) — the Divyastra was successfully test-fired yesterday. Nearly twenty years late. The MIRV tech has been collecting dust at the Advanced Systems Laboratory … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan nuclear forces, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 53 Comments

Defence Secretary misspoke or, revealed a glaring secret?

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Defence Secretary Aramane and CINC, PACOM, Admiral Aquilino at INDUS-X] If one mulled the statement by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane at the INDUS-X (India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem) summit held February 21, and knows a bit of history of the 1962 … 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, 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, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology | 27 Comments