Category Archives: Indian Navy

Strategic pincer & Trojan Horses

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Consider the simplified timeline: on May 4, when the armed intrusion by Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Depsang Bulge is on-going, the Indian government in an inspired fit announces the extension of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Technology transfer | 12 Comments

Messing with Sri Lanka

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

It was the early 1980s when, as I recall, Anton Balasingham, “foreign minister” of the “Tamil Eelam” walked into my office, and vehemently protested a piece I had written warning of the dangers of being sucked into the Sri Lankan … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, guerilla warfare, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, South Asia, Terrorism | 3 Comments

Frog in hot water

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

John Garver, a leading American expert on Sino-Indian relations, has likened Beijing’s strategy towards India to the traditional Chinese way of cooking a frog. Plonk the frog in a vessel and turn up the heat slowly. If the water was … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Missiles, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, West Asia | 11 Comments

Arbitrary priorities

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The military variant of that old saw about India being a rich country with poor people owing to god-awful governance is that there is no real dearth of monies allotted defence but every reason to doubt these are always spent … Continue reading →

Posted in China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 1 Comment

Pelf & procurement politics

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Treasury-milking schemes are of two kinds. Those where national assets and natural resources are sold or contracted out, resulting in monies that should rightfully fill the state coffers being diverted instead into private bank accounts of, and property purchases by, … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Europe, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions | 4 Comments

Submarine import trap

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The Indian Navy has quietly and without fuss built up a great reputation for itself as a strategic-minded service. Its plans for distant defence are the best articulated, and its procurement of naval hardware is mission-appropriate, reason why the government … 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 Navy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Western militaries | 2 Comments

Indigenization and the Indian Navy

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Passing strange that there has has been so little  (or no) coverage of the Navarms2013 symposium in Delhi January 31-Feb 1. The Navarms meet is apparently a once in 3 years affair (last held in 2007 and 2010).  There have been some … Continue reading →

Posted in Defence Industry, DRDO, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Relations with Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Technology transfer | 3 Comments

No Churning on China

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

No churning on China Bharat Karnad Situation awareness is a prime tactical, operational and strategic level military attribute and also, one assumes, a quality equally prized by politicians who need to be sensitive about every fold in an unravelling situation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Cyber & Space, Geopolitics, 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, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 19 Comments

Chandigarh Meet downloads

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The Seminar organizers are having some difficulty uploading viodeo on YouTube and have given the sites below for the feeds for those interested. Part One  http://www.adrive.com/public/ET74vh/IndiaChinaNov2012A.mpg Part Two http://www.adrive.com/public/2vycDZ/IndiaChinaNov2012B.mpg Part Three http://www.adrive.com/public/3zAQFr/IndiaChinaNov2012C.mpg Part Four http://www.adrive.com/public/DYR7g7/IndiaChinaNov2012D.mpg Part Five http://www.adrive.com/public/F3JkAK/IndiaChinaNov2012E.mpg Part Six … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, 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 Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 5 Comments

Tu-22 M3M line for China, Admiral Joshi, General Bikram

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Holidaying from blogging for the month of December, except three things steamed me up, enough any way for me to write this. 1) A knowledgeable friend called to say China had bought off the entire production line of the  Tu-22M3M … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, India's China Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, South Asia | 30 Comments