Category Archives: Pakistan

Short-sighted policy on China

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Trust Manmohan Singh’s Congress government to take an axe to India’s feet. This country has suffered from an absence of a strategic mindset for so long that decisions are taken these days without a thought to their ramifications on India’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Japan, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Technology transfer, United States, US. | Leave a comment

Social reasons for army punch-ups

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

At one level, the punchup in Meerut yesterday between officers pressuring a reluctant trooper to box in an inter-unit competition resembles the constant goading and hazing of the unit bugler Robert Prewitt in the”boxing Company” of the US Army Division … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | Leave a comment

Nuclear effects of Agni-V

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad, along with the other project in mission-mode, Advanced Technology Vehicle (the nuclear-powered ballistic missile-firing Arihant submarine, SSBN), are the two jewels in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) crown. Under high-class chiefs R … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command | Leave a comment

Peasant woman!

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

There’s no question but that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did refer to his Indian counterpart, idiomatically, as a “dehati aurat” (peasant woman) for complaining about Pakistan-supported terrorism to the US president. In the Punjabi context, if there are differences … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Politics, Pakistan, South Asia, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Politicising an apolitical military

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

A day apart, there were two contrasting views about the “apolitical” Indian military. Yesterday Lt Col CR Sundar, President Tamil Nadu BJP ExServicemens’ (ESM) Cell, emailed me a note sent off to others well in which he said, that ex-Servicemen, … Continue reading →

Posted in civil-military relations, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia | Leave a comment

Zubin and his Childish enthusiasms

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Zubin Mehta, conductor of perhaps the finest orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic, is happy he made music to bring solace to the people of Kashmir. Had he followed up with the kind of reserve he maintained in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 5 Comments

Naivete in extremis

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The naivete of Indian diplomats never ceases to amaze! A one-time diplomat and now adviser to Nitish Kumar, Pavan Verma, on a TV panel discussion charged Amit Shah and, by extension, Narendra Modi, with “proactively” violating the Constitutional rights of … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, guerilla warfare, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, South Asia, South East Asia | Leave a comment

Targeted execution of Dawood Ibrahim?

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the BJP surely startled many viewers in an ABP TV Hindi discussion show “Live Debate” starting at 1800 hours today (Aug 29). In response to a remonstrance by a Pakistani, some Pirzada, that Dawood was not … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, guerilla warfare, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 7 Comments

More nuclear claptrap from another ex-diplomat

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

I suspect that whenever former civil service types, ex-diplomats, and growingly even retired militarymen feel the inner tug to be in the public eye, they pronounce on things manifestly beyond their ken and areas of expertise, revealing their quite appalling … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 12 Comments

Babu Vs. Leader

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Juxtaposing the addresses of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the Red Fort and the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Bhuj on the occasion of Independence Day, the differences and sort of leadership they provide could not have been … Continue reading →

Posted in China, China military, civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 2 Comments