Category Archives: Northeast Asia

Has PM Modi Developed Cold Feet Over The Logistics Agreement with the US?

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The Bharatiya Janata Party government of Narendra Modi is conflicted and confused about just how close it wants India to get to the United States. The intimacy was to be cemented with the signing of the first of the three … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, corruption, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 14 Comments

No LEMOA — possible reasons

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The Logistics Support Agreement the US has been keen on and which the visiting US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had hoped to sign, has been put off. This despite advance notices in the media of the draft-Logistics Exchange Memorandum of … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 14 Comments

Offer Ash Carter a meaningful multilateral initiative to counter China

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

India’s attitude and policy towards China, surprisingly, hasn’t deviated even a little bit after the BJP assumed power in May 2014. If anything, Narendra Modi’s government has shown even greater reticence if that’s possible than the predecessor Manmohan Singh setup … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Japan, Northeast Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Western militaries | 30 Comments

Conversation with a reputed Service Chief and an IAS officer

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Belated though it is, readers of this blog may want to see and hear a “conversation” the 6th Goa Arts and Literature Festival Dec 10-12, 2015, scheduled between former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, an ex-IAS official who was in … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, 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 democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Maldives, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 1 Comment

Securing realism at the Washington summit

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The United States President Barack Obama, perhaps, to justify his winning the Nobel Peace Prize for just one peroration in Prague in April 2009 initiated the so-called nuclear security summits. Ironically, in the speech, he did not promise any progress … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, russian military, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 2 Comments

Review in ‘American Diplomacy’

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Featured Review of my book –‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’ in ‘American Diplomacy’, February 2016, by Jon Dorschner, former US diplomat and currently Professor in International Relations and South Asian Studies, School of Government & Public Policy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian military, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia | 4 Comments

Force 18 Multi-nation Military Drill: Will Indian Army Host Well?

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

‘Force 18’, initially labelled ‘FTX-2016’, is an ambitious military training exercise involving army units from eighteen countries – ten members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN,) plus eight observer states – India, Japan, Korea, China, Russia, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Culture, Cyber & Space, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Japan, Northeast Asia, Russia, russian military, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Western militaries | 4 Comments

NKorea/Pakistan’s thermonuclear test details

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The International Monitoring System based at Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia (comprising 5 primary and 13 auxiliary seismic stations, 4 infrasound stations, 8 radionuclide stations, 1 radionuclide laboratory), downwind from the North Korean Hanggyong mountain test site, has detected tritium. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons | 8 Comments

Wonky priorities with Japan

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Shinzo Abe’s very politic schtick in Banaras re: “Clean Ganga” by further messing up the river by pouring milk, etc into it by way of Hindu ritual is, well, understandable — what choice did he have? But Modi and the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, Culture, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, disarmament, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Japan, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 6 Comments

India-US defence industrial cooperation – Hudson Institute discussion

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Hudson Institute held a panel discussion featuring Indian corporate reps as members of FICCI accompanying DefMin Parrikar to Washington conducted by former US Defence Under secretary Douglas Feith, and the reputed China expert Mike Pillsbury, who as Special Assistant To … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 3 Comments