Category Archives: Indian Air Force

Modi, radar & clouds, Balakote, and pliable military chiefs

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[IAF Mirage 2000s] In the Indian system, political leaders don’t have to know much about anything. The civil servants manning the apparatus of state get by knowing even less but can and do argue the virtues of their generalist background … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, guerilla warfare, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, Military/military advice, SAARC, society, South Asia | 10 Comments

PM Modi and his proclivity

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

(Modi arriving in Bishkek) Prime Minister Modi’s flight took some 2-3 hours longer to reach Bishkek from New Delhi, having to go around Pakistan and the northern Arabian Sea and over Iran than if his plane had just flown north … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Decision-making, 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, Iran and West Asia, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, nuclear industry, nuclear power, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 10 Comments

Time for Disruptive Foreign and National Security Policies

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[INS Vikramaditya] This is the full version of the shortened paper posted earlier in the day. All the Papers by CPR faculty are to be compiled in a booklet — ‘Policy Challenges 2018-2024: The Key Policy Questions for the New … Continue reading →

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Jaishankar in cabinet, next, F-16 in IAF

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

Whether or not Narendra Modi delivers on any other election promise, one goal he will realize, with S. Jaiskankar, the former Foreign Secretary and virtually Washington’s Man in Delhi in the Union cabinet, is to, in fact, make India a … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, NRIs, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, Western militaries | 37 Comments

Tarzan of the subcontinental jungle

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

The first statements by any elected leader returned with a huge majority are a fairly good indication of what’s to come.  By this reckoning the country can expect, as the previous post noted, a more populist swing towards social welfare-ism … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, 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 Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Myanmar, SAARC, society, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons | 14 Comments

Don’t expect anything very different from Modi in his 2nd term

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

Narendra Modi has been returned to power with a bang by the people. Despite a record of tepid success in the domestic and economic spheres at home and timidity abroad, except when it comes to Pakistan where he has roared … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Africa, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, corruption, Culture, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Iran and West Asia, Israel, Japan, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Technology transfer, Tibet, UN, United States, US., Weapons | 5 Comments

Big Carriers Are a Bad Idea

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

 | Point of View The big carrier is a big mistake. In a milieu bristling with proliferating supersonic, and soon hypersonic, anti-ship missiles, aircraft carriers don’t stand a chance. INDIA TODAY ISSUE DATE: May 27, 2019 UPDATED: May 18, 2019  … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 7 Comments

Asia Society, New York: Q&A: Bharat Karnad on India’s ‘Inept’ Foreign Policy

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[This piece by Anubhav Gupta, Assistant Director, Asia Society Policy Institute, New York, uploaded to the Asia Society website on May 7, 2019, at https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/qa-bharat-karnad-indias-inept-foreign-policy ] With India in the throes of the world’s largest exercise in democracy, Indians and … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 2 Comments

Another Iran-related US bulldozer headed India’s way (slightly augmented)

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Major General Qasem Soleimani in the centre] When contemplating the troubles India finds itself consistently running into at every turn in regional and international affairs, the question that repeatedly comes up but finds no answers … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Israel, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 10 Comments

Fine for Modi to make political hay out of Balakot. And why is abrogating Articles 370 & 35A such a big deal? Or, strengthening AFSPA?

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Bharat Karnad

[IAF Mirage 2000s taking off] There’s been quite a bit of criticism of the Balakot retaliatory strike, particularly about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party “politicizing” India’s small, but fairly ambiguous, tactical military success. There’s still no definite evidence about whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, Military/military advice, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, satellites, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, UN, United States, US., Weapons | 7 Comments