Category Archives: Indian Army

Politicising an apolitical military

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

A day apart, there were two contrasting views about the “apolitical” Indian military. Yesterday Lt Col CR Sundar, President Tamil Nadu BJP ExServicemens’ (ESM) Cell, emailed me a note sent off to others well in which he said, that ex-Servicemen, … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | Leave a comment

Manmohan agenda to please USA

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Prime minister Manmohan Singh canvassed furiously for almost a year for another state visit and a meeting with the US president. It is revealing that the Barack Obama administration initially showed little interest, not convinced that it needed to expend … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, disarmament, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons | 4 Comments

Zubin and his Childish enthusiasms

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Zubin Mehta, conductor of perhaps the finest orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic, is happy he made music to bring solace to the people of Kashmir. Had he followed up with the kind of reserve he maintained in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 5 Comments

Unforgiving take on past

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

(Review of Lt Gen V.K. Nayar’s book, ‘From Fatigues to Civvies: Memoirs of a Paratrooper’, Manohar, 2013; Rs 1395/-) Lieutenant general V K “Tubby” Nayar (Retd) is among a rare breed of military officers. Despite being outspoken with his seniors … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, guerilla warfare, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, South East Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | Leave a comment

Failure-bound maritime strategy

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The public perception of the Indian army being smacked around on the border by China needs correction. Actually army units with the Leh-based XIV Corps do “power patrolling”, matching the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) move for aggressive move, including … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, West Asia | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Micro-wars as murderous business on LOC

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

With the media-generated mass boo-hooing attendant on the killing of the five jawans of the Bihar Regiment on the LOC in J&K, some core issues are being lost sight of. Firstly, as I have mentioned in a previous blog, such … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military, satellites, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | 14 Comments

Show dogs vs pit bulls and tension in the army

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The unprecedented phenomenon of the carefully planned and orchestrated succession (I railed against) that fetched General Bikram Singh his promotion as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is coming home to roost. There’s enormous tension between the army chief and … Continue reading →

Posted in China, China military, civil-military relations, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army | Leave a comment

French frankness and Defence hard-sell

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian at a talk in IDSA straightforwardly presented some of the points in the ‘Defence and National Security White Paper 2013’ (the last such document was issued in 2008). He emphasized the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, South Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Western militaries | Leave a comment

Need to harden China policy

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

It is possible the Chinese may have bitten off more than they can chew. Beijing has rubbed three main countries of the Indo-Pacific region — Japan, the United States and India — the wrong way. This new triple entente constitutes … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Ocean, Japan, Northeast Asia, Russia, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Western militaries | 1 Comment

Unprepared for anything

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

There are three unalterable constants when natural and man-made disasters strike in India – there is almost always a prior alert or intelligence report that is ignored, local administration and police and government generally at all levels (local, state, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism | 1 Comment