Category Archives: Indian democracy

Is the Indian military more sovereign than the Indian government?

Posted on April 12, 2018 by

[Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Defence Expo, Chennai, April 11, 2018] Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is proving to be a one-person wrecking crew for India’s aspirations to emerge as a significant designer-producer of military goods, including capital weapons platforms … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Israel, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 22 Comments

Pivoting against China?

Posted on January 2, 2018 by

  The Indian government and its agencies, including the armed services, have been so infected by myopia and the supposed Pakistan threat that, as I have argued for some 40 years now, no one in an official post in Delhi … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, domestic politics, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, Tibet, Weapons | 16 Comments

Who is the REAL defence Minister?

Posted on December 19, 2017 by

(Sitharaman and Jaitley) When Nirmala Sitharaman, ex-JNU, ex-Price Waterhouse Cooper, ex-BBC, was appointed Defence Minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some believed it to be an inspired choice. Others were more skeptical, aware that as a junior minister with not … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons | 41 Comments

Coincidence, or uncannily simlar developments at the India and US ends

Posted on December 13, 2017 by

  This post is being written a day before the final phase of the state elections in Gujarat. It is an election that is already giving the ruling BJP a fright and the results on Dec 18 may show Prime … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, SAARC, society, South Asia, United States, US. | 28 Comments

Takeaways from Tillerson’s visit

Posted on October 27, 2017 by

Rajya Sabha TV panel discussion programme — ‘The Big Picture’ broadcast yesterday Oct 26, 2017.

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 2 Comments

Will India Ever Be A Great Power? Swarajya — extended interview

Posted on September 21, 2017 by

https://swarajyamag.com/defence/will-india-ever-be-a-great-power-heres-what-bharat-karnad-has-to-say-about-it If time is available, I suggest listening to the podcast of the interview in extenso in the above URL. You’ll avoid some of the mistakes in transcription that have crept into the published Swarajya version of the interview. ————– … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Bangladesh, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, 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 Ocean, Indian para-military forces, indian policy -- Israel, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, Israel, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, satellites, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 23 Comments

The Doklam Standoff: Hot And Cold At The Creeping Tri-Junction

Posted on July 23, 2017 by

My ‘Realpolitik’ column published July 23, 2017 in BloombergQuint.com, at https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2017/07/23/the-doklam-india-china-standoff-hot-and-cold-at-the-creeping-tri-junction ——————— The Doklam plateau is far from being in a touch-trigger situation as many Indian commentaries and the Chinese government’s version of RK Karanjia’s Blitz – Global Times suggest. Nothing is … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Nepal, society, South Asia, Tibet | 17 Comments