Category Archives: Great Power imperatives

Prime integrator

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

APJ Abdul Kalam was a good man, a surprisingly soft man but with a core as hard as Damascene steel. On the several occasions I met and talked to him he reinforced this impression without revealing that kernel. He came … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Weapons | 1 Comment

Paki DARHT up

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

What’s a country to do if the international milieu, or one’s own self-constrained nature, prevents physical explosive tests. You do the next best thing to actual testing. Like, get yourself a Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility. Such a … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Technology transfer, Weapons | 4 Comments

India-US N-Deal: Was a Deep N-Game at Play in India’s Containment?

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

At the controversial core of the India-US nuclear deal is the intent. The context was the emerging geopolitics of China’s “peaceful rise” and the need to stop it from dominating Asia. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s BJP government sought technology and American … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons | 4 Comments

Hypersonic on hold?

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

DRDO has been working on a hypersonic missile for some years now. It has reached testing stage. But a test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle — HSTDV-2, scheduled at TsAGI (Central Thermal Hydrodynamics Institute) in the Moscow metropolitan region … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China military, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Weapons | 9 Comments

N-Iran only postponed

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The deal with Iran announced with great fanfare by Obama hides something critical and obvious under a heap of hope. Iran’s nuclear weapons capability has merely been put on hold, not done away with. All the mechanisms described at length … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Culture, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Iran and West Asia, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 2 Comments

Meeting IAF’s demand for French combat aircraft cheaply

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

It is clear that behind IAF’s concerted and sustained moves over the years to delay the Tejas LCA induction, is an institutional aversion to indigenously designed and developed combat aircraft. This has a long history starting with the cold-blooded killing … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Military Acquisitions, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Weapons, West Asia | 22 Comments

‘Uf yoo ma’ at Ufa

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Remember that song with the nonsensical lyrics — “Uf yoo ma” in that Dev Anand-Asha Parekh starrer of yore, Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai? These words meant nothing but denoted joyous and uplifted spirits! In the Russian town of Ufa, … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Maldives, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, society, South Asia, Sri Lanka | 5 Comments

Yasen-class SSNs offered to India?

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

President Putin’s regime is obviously unwilling to cede first place as armaments supplier to India and is ready to trump any Western country with deals that can’t be beat. In the news is the story about the proposal to set … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Technology transfer, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 13 Comments

“We don’t need an enemy……”

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Devesh Kapur of the University of Pennsylvania yesterday spoke at the Nehru Memorial Library on “India; The Suffocating State”. He retailed information that is familiar to most of us but with a twist in the tale. His most telling line … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Culture, domestic politics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Air Force, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, society, South Asia, Weapons | Leave a comment

Great developments on the Tejas front; duplicate them for FMBT

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Leadership has often been the difference between a successful and failed indigenous armament or weapons development project to which national prestige is committed. After the departure of Dr Kurt Tank from the HF-24 supersonic fighter project and the sidelining of … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, 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, Military Acquisitions, Russia, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 27 Comments