Category Archives: Indian Air Force

Time to revive the Hasnain strategy in Kashmir is now

Posted on June 24, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Lt Gen Hasnain in the centre, at one of the “awami sunwayees”) The murder of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz (2RajRif) in May and the public killing of the Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammad Ayub Pandit outside the main Srinagar mosque, Jamia … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, SAARC, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | 3 Comments

India’s China Policy — Rajya Sabha TV

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

‘Security Scan’, the Rajya Sabha TV programme, aired a panel discussion on “India’s China Policy” in the last few days, featuring fmr Secretary, MEA, TCA Rangachari, Jabin Jacob and yours truly, at

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A dealmakers’ draw

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

What Narendra Modi will confront on his US visit is Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ doctrine in action PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi should have pondered the perils of visiting Washington this early in Donald J Trump’s presidency. It will do him … Continue reading →

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Indo-Russian Ties — Rajya Sabha TV

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Rajya Sabha TV program on “Indo-Russian relations: emerging frontiers” was broadcast last week, features Prabhat Shukla, former ambassador to Russia, pramit pal chaudhury and yours truly. It may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OduwYhNJ2uc&list=PLVOgwA_DiGzpWrMV__M9_rHINn7PzABlM      

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Wrong man on watch and SPP

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

The Ministry of Defence is in desperately deep trouble for all sorts of reasons, including the most basic, namely, that the Government of India simply doesn’t have the financial resources to commit to large military acquisition and modernization programs. Especially … Continue reading →

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Getting it consistently wrong in the ‘Red Corridor’

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

There are two narratives regarding the Naxals. One, that the Maoist rebels are on the run, their ranks decimated by desertion and paramilitary actions, and that the entire fighting element among them has shrunk to a small “hard core” group … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Terrorism, United States, US., Vietnam, Western militaries | 11 Comments

Joint Forces Doctrine — passive, defensive inward-turned, and disappointing

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

This was not unexpected, but still it is surprising just how unventuresome, diffident, hesitant and, therefore, thoroughly fainthearted the ‘Joint Doctrine Indian Armed Forces’ really is. Issued by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Ministry of Defence, this document supposedly outlines … Continue reading →

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Russian offer of MiG LMFS, F-16, etc. as India faces a troubled world

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Persons in the know say Russia is offering India the co-development of the MiG 1.44 in the updated LMFS configuration with a conformal bomb bay. Some years back, as noted in this blog, IAF then in the throes of the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, 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, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Tibet, UN, United States, US., Weapons | 49 Comments

Cmde Balaji’s detailed response to ADM Prakash’s critque of naval LCA

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Cmde CD Balaji (Retd), who was, until March 31, 2017, Director, Aeronautical Development Agency, and head of the naval LCA programme since its inception in 2003, has responded strongly, substantively, and in considerable detail in an article reproduced below to … Continue reading →

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Why Arun Jaitley As Defence Minister Ought To Be An Interim Arrangement

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Published as ‘BloombergQuint Opinion’ on bloombergquint.com April 12, 2017, at https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2017/04/12/why-arun-jaitley-as-defence-minister-ought-to-be-an-interim-arrangement ————– As far as Manohar Parrikar is concerned, it was a perfect storm. The Goa political scene was on the boil. The odd-makers who had favoured the Congress party … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, 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, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 9 Comments