Category Archives: russian military

Defence Secretary misspoke or, revealed a glaring secret?

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Bharat Karnad

[Defence Secretary Aramane and CINC, PACOM, Admiral Aquilino at INDUS-X] If one mulled the statement by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane at the INDUS-X (India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem) summit held February 21, and knows a bit of history of the 1962 … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology | 27 Comments

Xi & Modi — at cross purposes, G20 summit and beyond

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Modi & Xi] New Delhi is all decked up in Indian calender art aesthetic — an eyesore to many. The G-20 summit will crown the many ministerial meetings on numerous subjects (energy, terrorism, etc) held in the past few months, … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Brazil, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Russia, russian military, sanctions, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Tibet, United States, US., Vietnam, Western militaries | 15 Comments

Stalling the porcupine

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Ukrainians in an unequal fight] Until yesterday, the Western media reported how the Ukrainian counteroffensive was galloping along, steadily pushing the Russian troops eastwards,and how it was just a matter of time before the lead Ukrainian elements wouldbreak through the … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Missiles, Russia, russian military, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 43 Comments

Bharat Karnad Explains Why India Must Fix China

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

An ‘Offensive Defence’ podcast may be of interest:

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, Nepal, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, 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, Taiwan, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Tibet, Trade with China, UN, United States, Vietnam, war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 27 Comments

GE 414 (EDE?) versus new Safran engine — the larger strategic dynamic and calculations

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Prime Minister Modi and US President Biden in a deep clinch in Washington] Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Munnabhai-type “jaddoo ki jhappi” is what, in my 2018 book (Staggering Forward), I called a “diplomatic innovation”. It has succeeded beyond measure. After … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, 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 state/administration, Indo-Pacific, Islamic countries, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, sanctions, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Trade with China, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 42 Comments

A lot of Twaddle about AI and nuclear weapons, tacnukes

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Agni on the way] I have no patience anymore for uninformed commentaries on nuclear deterrence penned by people who wear their unfamiliarity with the broad swath of deterrence literature and with the empirical evidence of nearly 80 years of the … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 12 Comments

India’s Nuclear Doctrine: Need for Change, and take on the 1982-83 Indo-Israeli op (Indira Gandhi called off at the 11th hour) to bomb Kahuta

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[PLA Strategic Rocket Force] Council for Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture: India’s Nuclear Doctrine: Need for Change Sat, Apr 22, 2023, 10:00 AM available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vR-a6iddrA Something of interest: In the interactive part of my above virtual talk, you’ll find Ambassador … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, Defence procurement, domestic politics, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, indian policy -- Israel, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Iran and West Asia, Islamic countries, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, Tibet, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons | 19 Comments

India in a Ukraine peace-negotiating pickle

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova & Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra] China’s unexpected diplomatic success in finessing a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran — the poles, respectively, of sunni and shi’ia Islam between which the Muslim world is ostensibly … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Iran and West Asia, Islamic countries, MEA/foreign policy, nonproliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, satellites, society, South Asia, space & cyber, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Tibet, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 24 Comments

Getting the Thermonuclear Bomb

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Explosion of the Russian “too big to use” 60 megaton — “Czar Bomba” over the test site at Semipalatinsk on 30th October 1961]  A bit of serious reading is required by Indian decisonmakers and lay public alike on the issue … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Cyber & Space, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Islamic countries, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, Missiles, nonproliferation, North Korea, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, russian military, sanctions, society, South Asia, space & cyber, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, technology, self-reliance, Tibet, United States, US., war & technology, Weapons, Western militaries | 28 Comments

China’s naval expansion

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Chinese warships at sea: firing drills] A recent Sansad TV programme — ‘The Defenders’ featured a discussio on “China’s naval expansion” with Vice Admiral Satish Soni (Retd), former FOC-in-C, Southern Naval Command (Kochi) and, later, Eastern Naval Ciommand (Vizag) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, corruption, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Maldives, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Myanmar, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 18 Comments