Category Archives: Geopolitics

NoKo/Pak H-bomb test superior to Indian S-1

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Several conclusions in my previous blog (“Rogue Triad and H-Bomb Tests”) have been borne out. According to a source, it is confirmed that what was exploded was a fusion-boosted fission device of Pakistani design that was vetted/refined by Chinese weapons … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Japan, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States | 27 Comments

Rogue Triad and H-Bomb Tests

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on February 3 that a third nuclear test by North Korea was imminent at its Punggye test site in the Hamgyong Mountain range in the northeastern part of that country adjoining the Chinese Jiangsu … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, United States, US., West Asia | 10 Comments

U.S. Wrong on India’s Iran Policy

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

[This is almost a year old, but may still be of interest. The piece reproduced here was published in ‘The Diplomat’ out of Washington on March 19, 2012.] India has been criticized for not doing enough to pressure Iran. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 4 Comments

China’s Tibet handicap

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

China’s attitude to its own security is like the United States’, or of any great power in earlier times. It seeks absolute security, which means absolute insecurity for every other country, especially states in its vicinity. The chimerical nature of … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Baser Instincts at the Border

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj of the Rajputana Rifles, confirmed by the Army Chief General Bikram Singh on January 14, is an act that strays beyond incomprehensibility and into the area of the unfathomably egregious. The habit of mutilating … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Terrorism, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Redefining India-Pakistan Relations

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Pakistan faces a dissimilar set of existential threats. The sole external threat is clear enough — India. The more alarming threats are internal — regional-aspirational in terms of separatist/secessionist movements (in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan), and of ethnic-regional assertion (Sindh, the Muttahida … 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 Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 22 Comments

No Churning on China

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

No churning on China Bharat Karnad Situation awareness is a prime tactical, operational and strategic level military attribute and also, one assumes, a quality equally prized by politicians who need to be sensitive about every fold in an unravelling situation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Cyber & Space, 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 Ocean, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 19 Comments

Chandigarh Meet — Malik, Karnad, Tipnis, Madhav

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

For those interested in a video, I believe,  (or, it may just be audio) record — the first part — of the Nov 25, 2012 Seminar hosted by the Centre for Strategy and Security, Chandigarh, on ‘Ïndia and China:  Five decades … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 1 Comment

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