Category Archives: disarmament

Indian nuclear weapons program-related video interview (in Hindi with lots of English thrown in — Hinglish (?)

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Bharat Karnad

This video interview was uploaded by ‘Offensive Defence’ on March 20, 2020. Belatedly posting here. It deals with all manner of issues related to the Indian nuclear arsenal, strategy, First Use, etc.

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 26 Comments

Pussyfooting around the truth

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[Jaishankar in Rajya Sabha] External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar skirted around the truth with his professional diplomatic flummery in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. Asked about India’s chances about securing a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, he said ” … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, UN, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 32 Comments

Time for India to Break Free

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

  The March 2019 edition of the ‘Swarajya’ magazine has published ‘The Right Manifesto’ on the eve of the general elections, containing short pieces by domain experts. C. Rajagopalachari — the rightist ideologue and free market enthusiast, who left the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, Geopolitics, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Intelligence, Israel, Japan, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Myanmar, Nepal, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Terrorism, Tibet, UN, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 14 Comments

Timid, timid India and Taiwan

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

A piece of American street wisdom says “to deter a bully on the block, punch him in the mouth.” There are two ways of hitting Beijng in the face with tremendous effect — pass on the most lethal strategic hardware … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, disarmament, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 10 Comments

Video of ‘Staggering’ launch

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

The two separate (or two-part) videos of the panel discussion at the launch on Thursday, Aug 30 at the India International Centre, of my newest book, ‘Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India’s Global Ambition’, published by Penguin, followed by a … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, 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 Navy, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 6 Comments

Vajpayee — Nehruvian in domestic politics, yes, but also strategically foolish

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

[The Dalai Lama and Vajpayee, PM) Amidst the paens of praise and hossanas being sung to honour the memory of the recently departed former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it may be churlish to bring up the wrong things done … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, disarmament, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian Politics, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Tibet, UN, United States, US. | 15 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

India’s sub-optimal nuclear weapons capability

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

Pallava Bagla’s ‘New Frontiers in Science and Development’ video, May 11, 2018

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Decision-making, disarmament, 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 Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons | 19 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