Category Archives: Indian Air Force

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

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

Air Marshal on joyride or after flying bounty

A frontline Mirage 2000 combat aircraft piloted by Air Marshal Anil Chopra,  head of   Personnel  at Air HQrs and Commodore Commandant,  of the oldest, most pampered, unit of IAF — No. 1 Squadron, Gwalior, went down yesterday.  “Snag in the engine”was … Continue reading

Posted in Indian Air Force | 2 Comments

Art of deal-making

// India and the United States resemble an old, estranged, couple who are too irked by each other’s frets and foibles to stay together but aware of too many shared interests to live apart. Their relations reek of familiarity even … Continue reading

Posted in Defence Industry, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer | Leave a comment

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

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

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

Rethinking Indian Policies Towards Pakistan

For a transcript of a talk by me at an event jointly hosted by the Institute of National Strategic Studies, US National Defense University, and the Atlantic Council, and the Q & A session that followed, in Washington DC on Nov 14, … Continue reading

Posted in India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 5 Comments

A general mess

Bharat Karnad The negatives of replacing the selection system will be strongly resisted by military and politicians as both will perceive it as disruptive While the colonial-era tradition of Indian Army officers not discussing women or politics — issues with … Continue reading

Posted in India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics | Leave a comment

Looking West, as far as Israel

The Indian Minister for External Affairs, S. M. Krishna, is visiting Israel starting January 9. The good thing is that such visits these days occasion no public teeth-gnashing by leaders of political parties that promote themselves as protectors of Indian … Continue reading

Posted in Defence Industry, 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 | 4 Comments

Playing hardball with China

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

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