Category Archives: Indian Politics

Shivaji — at no expense! Or, PP partnership?

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Visit London and you’ll see grand statues of renowned soldiers and statesmen — ranging from the Duke of Wellington (the former Colonel Arthur Wellesly of Assaye and later Waterloo fame) to General Henry Havelock, who raised the siege of Lucknow … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, domestic politics, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, society, South Asia | 24 Comments

COAS appointment — TV panel discussion

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Rajya Sabha TV — ‘The Big Picture’ panel discussion first aired Dec 16, 2016 night on the appointment of COAS, involving former cabinet secretary  TSR Subramanian, Maj Gen GD Bakshi (retd), Bharat Bhushan, and myself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjTRJJiM8Ro       .

Posted in Africa, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia | 2 Comments

COAS appointment — a multi-benefit opportunity missed

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

As straws in the wind go, the moving in September this year of Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat, GOC-in-C, Southern Command, as Vice Chief pointed to his promotion as the next COAS after Dalbir Singh Suhag. The stated reasons for ignoring … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, 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 Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, SAARC, society, South Asia | 16 Comments

“Call for the trial of Manmohan Singh and his Foreign Policy team”

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Reproduced below from ‘Indiafacts.org’, is a view by Tufail Ahmad, dated 17 December 2016, on the contents of my book — ‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ at http://indiafacts.org/trial-of-manmohan-singh/. Ahmad, a former BBC correspondent, is the executive director … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Defence Industry, disarmament, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, UN, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 7 Comments

Misplaced loyalties and weeding out the corrupt in the military

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

NDTV 9PM news report this evening carried a story about a gaggle of retired air marshals and such trooping to the CBI Court to show solidarity with former IAF Chief ACM SP Tyagi whose police custody was extended for several … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, society, South Asia | 18 Comments

‘Tyagi-itis’ hollowing out the military and the country

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Tyagi — literally translates as “someone who sacrifices”. Ironic, isn’t it, that an air force chief by this name (SP Tyagi), reeled in by the Central Bureau of Investigation for corruption and graft, has sacrificed his Service’s reputation on the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 23 Comments

New normal on LoC, Sartaj’s visit, Indo-Israeli ties

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

My participation in recent TV programs of possible interest: Rajya Sabha TV, The Big Picture,on “Alarming border situation… Is this the new normal?”, Friday,Nov 25, 2016, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqrlToNIVXU NewsX TV – “Why Wait to Say ‘No’ to Sartaj?”, Friday, Nov … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Israel, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | Leave a comment

The 311 Problem

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The bureaucracy can’t be left out in the war on black money —————– DEMONETISATION IS treating a symptom. The disease is systemic and grave, and relates to the institutionalised corruption in the vast, inefficient, wasteful and mostly ineffective administrative apparatus … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Internal Security, SAARC, society, South Asia | 6 Comments

Modi policy in tatters

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is finding his foreign (cum military) policy in tatters on several fronts. His attempt to coerce Pakistan into acknowledging that there’s a new game afoot and that every terroprist incident will trigger a prompt response in … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, UN, United States, US., Weapons | 18 Comments

Battle of “befitting replies”

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The unending Indian claims and celebrations about the “surgical strike” Sept 28 across the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistani refutations that any such intrusion happened across what they call the “working boundary” are transiting from … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, SAARC, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | 41 Comments