Category Archives: Nuclear Policy & Strategy

Interpreting risk

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Have barely survived hours of being before Times Now television cameras (at home) and for an hour at their studio where the relentless drive to be upbeat about PM Modi’s supposed success in persuading Obama to accept an ambiguous interpretation … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US. | 2 Comments

Bending over Backwards

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

In his pronouncements, US president Barack Obama has indicated that American companies will be actively discouraged from investing in production plants abroad, offshoring operations, and exporting jobs; Indian pharmaceutical industries would come under the intellectual property rights hammer, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, disarmament, DRDO, 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, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 16 Comments

Ousting Chander

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The termination of Avinash Chander’s tenure as Science Adviser to the Defence Minister and head of DRDO was too sudden and created shock waves. The sotto voce explanation that Dr. Chander was a little tardy in following up on Prime … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Weapons | 7 Comments

Ditching Rafale

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Like an able pilot with his wits about him in an out-of-control warplane, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar may be preparing to ditch Rafale touted as the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) answer, which the Indian Air Force has set its … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 14 Comments

Arihant, bigger, more powerful

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

Compare photographs/videos of a Kilo-class SSK steaming out of harbour and the Arihant SSBN getting out of Vizag base and what do experts notice? In the main that the Arihant-class boat, not surprisingly, is a third longer and bulkier — … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Weapons | 8 Comments

Underway Arihant SSBN

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

My usually reliable source was misinformed about the dateline of the Arihant going out on sea trials, but by about only three-quarters of a day! — whence this blog was originally posted late morning yesterday (Dec 15). It turned out … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command | 11 Comments

Russian Ties at Inflection Point

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

India’s relations with Russia are at a point where they could soar, or plummet. Minus the celebratory pomp and circumstance likely attending on the January jaunt by US president Barack Obama, president Vladimir Putin’s seemingly perfunctory visit may actually turn … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 3 Comments

Crisis of State — External Security

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

I was invited to deliver the 6th PA Ramakrishnan Lecture at the Bhatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mylapore, Chennai, Oct 5, 2014. For those who are interested, the talk and the interaction following was videographed and uploaded to Youtube and may … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, 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, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons | 4 Comments

Vietnam as India’s Pivot

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

Vietnam prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit has just ended with a sealing of a defence pact. That this significant accord was readied as a follow-up to the defence Memorandum of Understanding signed a scant month and half after president … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, 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, Japan, Missiles, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Weapons | 2 Comments

Orbital Jumps, But How?

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Bharat Karnad

In Beijing to prepare the ground for the Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping summit, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval talked of Sino-Indian relations as primed for an “orbital jump”. Seeing these bilateral ties as a satellite in a low-earth orbit which, presumably … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, satellites, 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., Weapons | 9 Comments