Category Archives: Indian Politics

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

Redefining India-Pakistan Relations

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Pakistan faces a dissimilar set of existential threats. The sole external threat is clear enough — India. The more alarming threats are internal — regional-aspirational in terms of separatist/secessionist movements (in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan), and of ethnic-regional assertion (Sindh, the Muttahida … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 22 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

Chandigarh Meet — Malik, Karnad, Tipnis, Madhav

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

For those interested in a video, I believe,  (or, it may just be audio) record — the first part — of the Nov 25, 2012 Seminar hosted by the Centre for Strategy and Security, Chandigarh, on ‘Ïndia and China:  Five decades … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 1 Comment

India’s daily billions

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Admiral Fasih Bokhari, former CNS, Pakistan Navy, and Chairman of the country’s National Accountability Board, is set to release a report December 14 that’s expected to reveal that Rs 6-7 BILLION rupees are DAILY lost in corruption — bribes, payoffs, commissions, etc.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, South Asia | Leave a comment

Gujral, last of the wagah candle-lighters

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Inder Gujral’s demise removes the last of the stalwarts of the 70s-80s era. He was an accidental prime minister — being there at the right time, the right moment, for the concatenation of political forces to hoist him on to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | 13 Comments

Nuclear warnings

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad The Indian government rarely heeds warnings, does not prepare for the worst and when the storm hits, flaps about helplessly and reaches for straws to save itself. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Bill Clinton administration came … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, 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 Politics, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Pantji, R.I.P.

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The announcement of KC Pant’s death has come as a shock to many of us who worked with him. I came to know Pantji personally from the mid-1980s when he was Defence Minister. We engaged in discussions on defence matters. When he was … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, disarmament, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 2 Comments

Army in doldrums

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

                          Bharat Karnad After a rough-hewn career in the field, politics should be pursued by soldiers as an avocation, not a vocation that the workaday politicians have made it The Army has been in the news for a few years … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Politics | 3 Comments

Meaningless cabinet jiggle

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

It is not clear what the cabinet reshuffle that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or, as the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, at an election rally in Himachal Pradesh, wittily called him, Maun Mohan Singh, and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | Leave a comment