Category Archives: Indian Politics

How Modi can make his Pak venture profitable

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The biggest opportunity Prime Minister Modi has created to drag India-Pakistan relations into a semblance of normalcy some 17 months after inviting Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to his over-grand investiture ceremony is his decision to accept the latter’s invitation to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, 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 ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Maldives, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Myanmar, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, society, South Asia, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 18 Comments

Wonky priorities with Japan

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Shinzo Abe’s very politic schtick in Banaras re: “Clean Ganga” by further messing up the river by pouring milk, etc into it by way of Hindu ritual is, well, understandable — what choice did he have? But Modi and the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Culture, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 6 Comments

India-US defence industrial cooperation – Hudson Institute discussion

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Hudson Institute held a panel discussion featuring Indian corporate reps as members of FICCI accompanying DefMin Parrikar to Washington conducted by former US Defence Under secretary Douglas Feith, and the reputed China expert Mike Pillsbury, who as Special Assistant To … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 3 Comments

Deleterious “Foundational” ags

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Sujan Dutta of the Telegraph (Kolkatta) is usually a well-informed reporter and his Dec 6, 2015 story (at http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151206/jsp/nation/story_56997.jsp#.VmUdA9KYbVI) about GOI being pressured by Washington to accede to the so-called “foundational agreements” has substance. This subject has been tackled in … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 5 Comments

India’s strategic diffidence

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Reproduced below is my chapter “India’s strategic diffidence” in the European Council on Foreign Relations compilation of essays titled ‘What Does India Think?’ and is available at http://www.ecfr.eu/what_does_india_think/analysis/indias_strategic_diffidence ———- India has not had a truly strategic foreign policy since before … Continue reading →

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ECFR’s World in 30 Minutes: Modi’s visit to the UK and India’s relation with the EU

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

An European Council of Foreign Relations podcast dated Nov 9, 2015, on the eve of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to UK on the subject of Modi government’s foreign policy. It is available at https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/ecfrs-world-in-30-minutes-india.

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, domestic politics, Europe, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, UN, United States, US. | Leave a comment

Response to Daniel Markey

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Posted by Bharat Karnad, ‘Asia Unbound’blog of the Council on Foreign Relations, November 21, 2015 at 12:43 pm, at http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2015/11/18/thinking-about-armed-confrontation-between-china-and-india/ ——– Daniel Markey is right in describing India-China hostilities as “low probability, high cost contingency”. The trouble is however low … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, disarmament, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 2 Comments

The case for greatness

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Review of my book by Manoj Joshi published in the Indian Express, Nov 21, 2015 at http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-case-for-greatness/#sthash.qGMR7nOQ.dpuf, and is reproduced below. ———- Karnad wants India to be number one, but as the title of the book suggests, we are some … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, 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, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, 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. | 1 Comment

Response to Shivshankar Menon’s review

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

My response to Shivshankar Menon’s review was published Nov 24 in ‘theWire.in’, is reproduced below and is at http://thewire.in/2015/11/22/india-will-not-become-a-great-power-by-loudly-proclaiming-its-intentions-16049/ ————- Shivshankar Menon, as I have long maintained, is the “smoothest” most intellectually agile Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, 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, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, satellites, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

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

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

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