Category Archives: MEA/foreign policy

Tough US Stand on Pak: Implications

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

Panel discussion aired January 8, 2018 on Rajya Sabha TV programme ‘India’s World’, with former Foreign Secretary Shashank, ex-High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan, and yours truly.

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, United States, US. | 9 Comments

Pivoting against China?

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Bharat Karnad

  The Indian government and its agencies, including the armed services, have been so infected by myopia and the supposed Pakistan threat that, as I have argued for some 40 years now, no one in an official post in Delhi … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, Tibet, Weapons | 16 Comments

Rafale canards are a problem, and will escalate total lifetime programme costs by billions of Euros

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Rafale) The Indian Air Force has a proud 70-year record of BONE-HEADED acquisition decisions. Among them (1) the purchase of the under-powered British Jaguar DPSA at the expense of the entirely indigenously-designed but supposedly “under-powered” Marut HF-24 Mk-II (aka HF-73) … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Russia, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons | 19 Comments

China in the Maldives

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Rajya Sabha TV panel discussion in ‘India’s World’ programme on the subject of China at India’s backdoor in the IO. It was broadcast yesterday evening at 10PM.

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Intelligence, Japan, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Special Forces, Sri Lanka, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, United States, US. | 3 Comments

Aussie-think on Quad

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Julie Bishop Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade at the release of the White Paper) Spent a good part of the past week in Sydney and that part of New South Wales, doing touristy stuff — and being a … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 15 Comments

Strategic Importance of the Quadrilateral

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Bharat Karnad
Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Myanmar, Northeast Asia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 10 Comments

Modi govt writing finis to Tejas?

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(FGFA) All work related to designing and developing the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft and its variants, including the right-weighted naval Tejas, has come to a stop at ADA and HAL. The plan was for the air force Mk-II version … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, 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 Navy, Indian Ocean, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 42 Comments

Takeaways from Tillerson’s visit

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Rajya Sabha TV panel discussion programme — ‘The Big Picture’ broadcast yesterday Oct 26, 2017.

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, 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, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 2 Comments

Is Pakistan going back on its commitments on terror?

Posted on October 21, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

Rajya Sabha TV –‘The Big Picture’ program – panel discussion with Rana Banerji, Maj Gen AS Siwach, Smita Sharma of Tribune, and your truly broadcast Oct 13, uploaded Oct 16.  

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, civil-military relations, Decision-making, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Intelligence, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Akula in a Chakra-vyuh?

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Bharat Karnad

(Nerpa) The Press reported Sept 4 about damage done to its sonar dome  as the ex-Russian ‘Nerpa’ — Akula SSN — INS Chakra — was making its way back to or embarking on a patrol from — it isn’t clear … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Decision-making, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 18 Comments