Category Archives: Internal Security

Cyber terrorism

The method, discipline, and the singular purpose evident in the messaging and texting of dire warnings against Indians from the Northeast in southern India does not seem to be the work of local “miscreants” gone viral, but rather a well-defined … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyber & Space, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Terrorism | 8 Comments

Hand in the Hornets Nest

Considering there are some 170-180 million Muslims in India and about 25-30 percent of this population are shias, the country’s West Asia policy, not unreasonably, has walked on eggshells. It has refused to tilt the majority sunni or the minority … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Terrorism, United States, US. | 12 Comments

Folly of Pakistan’s Taliban Logic

Pakistan is “the sick man of Asia”. In the early 21st Century, our neighbour to the west deserves that appellation as, ironically, Turkey-Ottoman Empire did in the 19th century. Turkey, if you recall, was the model of the army-run state … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism | 7 Comments

Cyber Neanderthals

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

Time to revisit Article 370

Set up by the Manmohan Singh government in 2010, the Kashmir panel comprising M.M. Ansari, formerly with the Central Information Commission, Radha Kumar, an academic with interest in conflict resolution, and journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, submitted its report about a fortnight … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security | 12 Comments

Playing Favourites

On the weekend prior to demitting office, General V.K. Singh, using the media, publicly firebombed the government one last time as Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Separately interviewed by the main television channels intent on wringing the last few drops … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Military Acquisitions | 2 Comments

Lavoy — Nukes in S Asia; India in Afghanistan, please!

A Pentagon team headed by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Peter Lavoy is in town. At a dinner hosted last night by the newly credentialed US Ambassador Nancy Powell, Lavoy rvealed that his team was in Delhi to plead … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with the US & West | Tagged | 7 Comments

India, an example?

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Constitution last Sunday, speaker after opposition speaker pointed out that while democratic norms have been tenuously maintained, the promise of social and economic equity is nowhere near being achieved for the … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Indian Politics, Internal Security | 4 Comments

Brothers-in-arms

Bharat Karnad The test-firing of the Agni-V intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) on April 19 was greeted with a heartening absence of official bluster in Pakistan. The matter-of-fact counter-launch a few days later of a medium-range Pakistani Hatf missile likewise … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Internal Security, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism | 11 Comments

Entitlement syndrome

Pratibha Devi Singh Patil (excuse me, but shouldn’t that be Pratibha Patil Devi Singh, unless Mr. Devi Singh has accepted his wife’s surname?) until elevated to the presidency of the country five years ago by reason of the ruling Congress … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Indian Politics, Internal Security | 10 Comments