Category Archives: Indian ecobomic situation

India Will Not Become a Great Power by Loudly Proclaiming its Intentions

Review of my book — “Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ by Shivshankar Menon, National SEcurity Adviser,January 2010 to May 2014, published Nov 22, 2015 in ‘The Wire’ and accessible at http://thewire.in/2015/11/22/india-will-not-become-a-great-power-by-loudly-proclaiming-its-intentions-16049/ and reproduced below. ———- When Bharat … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, 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, Indian Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam | 2 Comments

A nation that aims low and hits lower

Reproduced below is the review of my book ‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ by Air Marshal BD Jayal (Retd), former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern and South-Western Air Commands, Indian Air Force, published in the Telegraph … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, 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 Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 2 Comments

Crouching dragon, kneeling tiger

The esteemed defence analyst for the ‘Business Standard’ Ajai Shukla’s review of my latest book — ‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ published Nov 21, 2015 is reproduced below. It is accessible at http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/crouching-dragon-kneeling-tiger-115112001203_1.html, and also on his … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Australia, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, Japan, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 2 Comments

Audio record of Carnegie book event Nov 12

The Carnegie event in Washington to launch my book –‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ featured an introduction by Ashley Tellis, a presentation by me followed by a panel discussion featuring Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, Daniel … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, 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, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 1 Comment

Is India soft-selling its hard power?

The video of the book launch event in Mumbai hosted by Asia Society on Oct 9 instant featured a conversation involving former Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Vishnu Bhageat, former CINC, Western naval Command Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh and … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, disarmament, 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, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US. | Leave a comment

ECFR ‘Black Coffee Morning’ event in London

For readers of this blog residing in the UK, and especially the London metropolitan area, you may be interested in the following event to be hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations, UK Chapter, Nov 9. The invite is … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Western militaries | Leave a comment

UNSC membership — wrong emphasis at I-A summit

Delhi, predictably (in that that’s how much MEA/GOI is not clued into trends into mainstream African thinking), is fluffing it even as the grand show Modi is hosting for African countries gets underway. Modi and, only hours before the inaugural … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, Culture, Defence Industry, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, UN, Weapons | 2 Comments

Black Africa — not on MEA’s “radar”

On the eve of the India-Africa Forum Summit involving 54 states from that continent lying across the Ïndian lake, some home truths need to be acknowledged. While our foreign policy rhetoric and public posture has been pro-Third World, in the … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, society, South Asia, United States, US. | 3 Comments

Letting a desperate Dassault off the hook

Today’s papers carried reports on 50% Rafale offsets amounting to $4.5 billion or Rs 30,000 crore (“Rafale deal:France agrees to meet 50% of contract’s worth in India’s related sectors” http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/rafale-deal-france-agrees-to-invest-50-of-contracts-worth-in-indias-related-sectors/articleshow/49487260.cms) — evidence that just the initial procurement cost of 36 … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 7 Comments

Grand ambitions, muddled planning

The impression created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with western leaders is that India will buy any de-rated military goods offered. His announcement about purchasing 36 1980s-vintage French Rafale planes to meet the Indian Air Force’s requirement for ‘medium … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 11 Comments