Category Archives: China

Slumping Modi needs thermonuclear tests

Posted on June 3, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

Modi’s political stock is falling. From being hailed as invincible just a few months back to now being considered vulnerable to a straggly unified opposition front in the 2019 general elections is a reflection of his rapid decline and his … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, 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 Politics, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, United States, Weapons | 49 Comments

Wages of getting close to US

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(Headed in different directions — India and the US) Have sounded the tocsin time and again in my books and other writings since the post-1998 tests when the Indian government  under the Vajpayee-Brijesh Mishra-duo began the country’s tilt America-wards about … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 16 Comments

Walking Back Delusional Nuclear Policies

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

Research article by Bharat Karnad for the Special Issue of the Journal ‘Strategic Analysis’  Pages 181-193 | Published online: 08 May 2018 citation — https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2018.1463955  Strategic Analysis  Volume 42, 2018 – Issue 3: Special Issue: Two Decades of the Pokhran Tests: India … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, disarmament, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian military, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 10 Comments

Sochi for the right reasons

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(Modi and Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the  Black Sea resort town of Sochi May 21 in a “mini summit” sought by Delhi. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, 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, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 28 Comments

India’s nuclear do-nothing policy

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(At the 1998 Pokhran test-site, prime minister Vajpayee, defence minister George Fernandes, head of DRDO Abdul Kalam, and chairman, AEC, R Chidambaram) The Shakti series of underground tests 20 years ago were the last, stifled, hurrah of the Indian nuclear … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Decision-making, disarmament, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan nuclear forces, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 11 Comments

Craven Indian govt will bow down to Trump’s edict on Iran

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(Modi and Iran President Hassan Rouhani during the latter’s India visit) Finance Ministry mandarins have been wringing their hands for a while, wondering just  how to carry on doing business with Tehran in case US President Trump nixed the Joint … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, Culture, Decision-making, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, nonproliferation, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 5 Comments

DPC turning out, as expected, to be yet another bureaucratic pimple

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

[PM and Doval] The worst fears about the Defence Planning Committee (DPC) being yet another bureaucratic contrivance rather than an instrument for centralizing national security and defence decision-making were realized once the outcome of its first meeting became known. One … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, 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, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 23 Comments

Why Modi has failed in the foreign policy arena: the perils of Personalized Diplomacy

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

A year before the next general elections, it is dawning on the Modi government that it has nothing much to show for the Prime Minister’s extensive travels all over the globe, whence the desperation-tinged diplomatic activity to fashion something out … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, South Asia, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons | 18 Comments

Dancing with the dragon

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(India-China meeting at the Sixth BRICS Summit, in Brazil on July 15, 2014) A spate of ministerial visits is in the offing as a run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the summer. The … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Terrorism, Tibet, UN, United States, US. | 6 Comments

What aircraft is this RFI for?

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

(ACM BS Dhanoa before a Rafale sortie) An RFI for 110 combat aircraft was today issued by IAF without clarifying whether these are to be single engine or two-engine fighter planes. There re some technical criteria — altitude ceiling, etc. … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 11 Comments