Category Archives: India’s strategic thinking and policy

No nuclear war, but an arms race?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

[Published in South Asian Journal (Lahore), Issue No. 33, July-September 2011]                   Talk of a four-node vicious circle! Pakistan is perennially at loggerheads with India, whose conventional military handicap it seeks to overcome with significant arms transfers by China and … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | Leave a comment

Expeditionary future

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

The closely packed state visits by three heads of governments in South Asia and the extended region – Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam, and Thein Sein of Myanmar signified something the Manmohan Singh government did not … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | Leave a comment

Myanmar-India

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

India has finally woken, a bit late in the day, to Chinese advances in Myanmar. Like, in many other areas, the Indian govt rushes into a stance prompted by “political correctness” — in this case of human rights violations and … Continue reading →

Posted in India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 3 Comments

Indian armed forces have China Syndrome

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Over the years, the Indian Armed Services have become more and more like the Indian government – cautious, defensive, incremental in thought and action, and risk-averse when it comes to China, an adversary that’s, perhaps, better endowed, if not more … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 1 Comment

Endless delusion

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Come the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in autumn and there’s India, predictably making the same old pitch for a permanent seat in the Security Council as part of “comprehensive reform” of the UN. As in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment

India’s first line of defence

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Nations establish moral ascendency over other nations only by victory in war. Shrugging off the possibility of American nuclear attack, China crossed the Yalu River in October 1950 and almost brought the United States led-forces in Korea to their knees, … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | 1 Comment

Special Command

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

Special Forces (SF) are the stuff of legend and military lore. Their derring-do and nerveless actions in the field have time and again rescued the losing side and turned the course of wars. Because the SF are geared to attaining … Continue reading →

Posted in India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Special Forces | 1 Comment

Nuclear mind games

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

When contemplating Pakistan’s nuclear build-up, Major General Ausaf Ali, an engineer officer and, as Director General – Operations and Plans, arguably the most important man in the Strategic Plans Division, Chaklala, the secretariat for that country’s Nuclear Command Authority, comes … Continue reading →

Posted in India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons | 1 Comment

Rethinking Pakistan

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

“Cricket diplomacy” and the meeting of the Indian and Pakistan Home Secretaries are important because these were approved through the back channel maintained by Delhi with the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani – the hub of power … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear Independence

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Bharat Karnad

At bottom, the unrest in Jaitapur is not about the prospective Areva nuclear park and its perils but rather about angry locals feeling cheated and is akin to the agitations in Singur, Nandigram, and several other locations identified for big … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Leave a comment