Category Archives: Great Power imperatives

Timing a pre-emptive strike

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

In January 1988, I published a piece in the Sunday Observer entitled “Knocking out Kahuta” which gained some notoriety. Pakistan was, at that time, still short of crossing the nuclear weapons threshold and the “window of opportunity”, I argued, would … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

LSE report: platform for Ramachandra Guha’s whole-hearted nonsense

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

These are dispiriting times. So soon after the release of that “India as punching bag” foreign policy agenda contained in the quasi-official ‘Nonalignment 2.0’ (NA 2.0) comes an even more enervating collection of opinion-pieces put together by the London Scool of Economics … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security | 2 Comments

Roadmap for Second-rate Power Status for India: Response to Quasi-official foreign policy document– ‘Nonalignment 2.0’

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The title, the membership of the group comprising persons with Nehru-vian liberal/neo-liberal bent of mind (Nandan Nilekani, Shyam Saran; four academics – Sunil Khilnani, Pratap Mehta, Rajiv Kumar, Srinath Raghvan; a newspaper editor, S Varadarajan; and a token military-man, retired … Continue reading →

Posted in 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, Indian Politics, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | 7 Comments

To tackle piracy, go on offensive

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Large navies with great deal of capital invested in them these days prepare not for great fleet battles but for the infinitely less taxing anti-piracy operations. When this role is devolved by governments to shipping Companies who, in turn, pass … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Special Forces | 3 Comments

Dominoes falling to China

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Does India ever do anything on its 0wn initiative, proactively to protect its interests? Apparently not. Because almost every time you see India doing something in the extended neighborhood, it is in response to counteract what China has done. Take … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Ocean | Leave a comment

Talk in Princeton by Bharat Karnad on strategic security issues -video

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Complete Video (in 10 segments) of my talk on India’s strategic security issues at what was billed as a “Jirga” in Princeton on November 13, 2011, arranged by Bharat-rakshak Forum habitues residing in the NY/NJ area may be accessed at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL31BA8C2D60DA2052 . For some reason various URLs … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | 3 Comments

Bharat Karnad at CNAS/GWU Conference on ‘Rising Powers’ in Washington, DC, January 23-24, 2012

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad’s Brief Responses to Questions posed Indian panelists (in the lead-up to the) Center for New American Security/Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University conference on “India as a Global Power: Contending Views from India,” Elliott School, Washington, D.C., January … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

India must learn to assert

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

What’s with us as cricket team, as people, as government, as country? An objective take would be that we are a bunch of losers. Passivity, defensive-mindedness, meekness, and timidity are qualities that historically have characterised India and Indians, with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics | 2 Comments

Playing hardball with China

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once again pooh-poohed the threat from China, this time on Dec 14 in Parliament which undercuts the raison détre  for the India-Japan-United States strategic discussion. Originally planned for mid-October, it was postponed at the eleventh hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

A Big Deal

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

The eventually twenty-two billion dollar (not ten billion dollar, as has been reported) deal for the Medium-range Multi-Role Combat Aircraft could become a Bofors-like political liability for the ruling Congress Party, if it fails to get it right. Inordinate amounts … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West | 4 Comments