Category Archives: India’s strategic thinking and policy

Dedicated Nuclear Cadre

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The Task Force on National Security, chaired by Naresh Chandra, the all-purpose bureaucrat, had an open-ended brief. The one area, however, the Task Force was expressly told to keep off  by the National Security Adviser related to the country’s nuclear … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Strategic Forces Command, Western militaries | 5 Comments

Managing Indian nuclear forces

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Secured a copy of Vice Admiral Verghese Koithara’s book — ‘Managing India’s Nuclear Forces’. The only original stuff — and the core of the book — is in the penultimate two chapters dealing with nuclear force management and operationalization. His  implication, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, United States, US. | 12 Comments

Surely, you jest Mr. Tharoor!

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The frightfully talented Shashi Tharoor, the Congress Party MP from Thiruvananthapuram, cannot be accused of lacking in ambition or drive. From chief public relations officer, United Nations, to seeking the Secretary-Generalship of this body, to winning a Lok Sabha seat … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics | 3 Comments

Streamlining Defence

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

When talking to uniformed officers in higher military training institutions and forums, I try to emphasise the perils of an industrial age military. The country has far to go to get anywhere near the technologically-efficient, cyber-savvy, 21st century modern armed … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China military, DRDO, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Special Forces, US., Western militaries | 4 Comments

Fork in the road to defence ties

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

In the past several years India has dashed headlong into military acquisitions without thinking through their implications. This is par for the course for the Indian government wedded to ad hoc policies and decisions concerning the most serious aspects of … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, Defence Industry, 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, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, United States | 34 Comments

Cyber Neanderthals

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The news story about the Chinese hacker corps getting into the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) data net and stealing information related to the Arihant nuclear submarine came as no surprise. Like everything else they do, the Chinese are thorough in … Continue reading →

Posted in India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Internal Security, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer | 10 Comments

Sanya analogue on Andhra Coast

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

The story in today’s ‘Sunday Express’ about the Chinese hackers penetrating the Eastern Navala Command’s communications hub and planting bugs to relay any info or communication involving the Arihant SSBN, etc.  China’s strategic concerns understandably revolve around the deployment patterns of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 3 Comments

Panetta trip — problems ahead in Indo-US defense ties

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

US Defense Secretary Leon E Panetta was accompanied by a big retinue of DOD officials and US military officers to the IDSA auditorium for his speech yesterday evening, among them the old stand-bys — Peter Lavoy, and the highest ranking American … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer | Leave a comment

Countering US pressure

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Assuming the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has done its job, the government must be aware of the fact that North Korea is preparing to conduct its third nuclear test, this time of a Chinese-designed boosted fission device. Transferred in … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | 24 Comments

Lavoy and Indian Tanks in Afghanistan?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Heard the other day from Rahul Bedi of Janes’s and, following up on my blogging re: Lavoy, said he had heard from his MoD army sources that Lavoy, during his trip here last week, had urged India to dispatch Indian … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army | Tagged | 11 Comments