Category Archives: society

An Analogy — India’s 1961 Goa op and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

[Russia foreign minister Sergey Lavrov making a point at the Raisina Dialogue] The first anniversary of Russia’s unfinished “special operation” in Ukraine coincided this year with the G-20 Foreign Ministers Meet, which last made available foreign dignitaries for the annual … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, Decision-making, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, 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, society, South Asia, UN, United States, US., Weapons, Western militaries | 31 Comments

Convert orders for Boeing-Airbus aircraft into co-production deals

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

Modifying Tata’s Boeing-Airbus deal with co-production at its core is an opportunity for institutional course correction. In a podcast the other day, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar boasted that the Bharatiya Janata Party government of Narendra Modi is the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, Military/military advice, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, Trade with China, United States, US., war & technology | 25 Comments

Modi Dominatus

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Bharat Karnad

KAL, the ascerbic cartoonist for the Economist weekly lauded for its perceptive take on current leaders, developments and issues, in a year-ender, created a satirical aviary of political birds (reproduced above). Among the fowls of varied provenance, he identifies, the … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, Defence Industry, Defence procurement, disarmament, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Indian state/administration, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Internal Security, MEA/foreign policy, Military Acquisitions, NRIs, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, technology, self-reliance, United States, US., war & technology | Tagged | 42 Comments

‘Time to play hardball with China’

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

2 Interviews:with Rediff News and with Sputnik News Interview with Rediff News published December 14, 2022 at https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/bharat-karnad-time-to-play-hardball-with-china/20221214.htm1 ———  ‘Unless India ups the ante, Beijing will continue to believe its transgressions are cost free and will feel encouraged to do more … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Bhutan, China, China military, Culture, Decision-making, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Nepal, Pakistan, SAARC, society, South Asia, Tibet, Trade with China | 43 Comments

Xi Jinping’s Third Term: What it means for India — Chanakya Dialogues

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

The Chanakya Dialogues were conducted by the Chanakya Foundation on Nov 12, 2022. In this particular session the discussion ranged from Chinese perceptions of India, Xi’s 2-track India policy, ways to tackle the China threat, to the sort of half-cocked … Continue reading →

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Cathartic Transitions in Pakistan

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

[Bajwa with senior-most officers, Pakistan Army] Just returned from a trip to Singapore and, especially, Cambodia which I had longed to visit and where I beheld the largest religious monuments of any kind in the world — the magnificence of … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indo-Pacific, Intelligence, Internal Security, Islamic countries, Japan, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Sri Lanka, United States, US. | 1 Comment

Modi-Jaishankar accept China’s annexation of Indian territory as fait accompli?

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

[The departing Chinese ambassador, Sun Weidong, and Jaishankar] Sun Weidong, China’s ambassador who is returning to Bejing, surely did not expect the Indian External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, to crown his stint in New Delhi with an Indian policy turn … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, Culture, Decision-making, domestic politics, geopolitics/geostrategy, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indo-Pacific, Internal Security, Islamic countries, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Tibet, Trade with China | 11 Comments

‘Xi will wait for the Modi government to make the reconciliation moves’

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

Interview published in Rediff News October 20, 2022, https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/rashme-sehgal-xi-will-wait-for-india-to-make-reconciliation-moves/20221020.htm ——- Bharat Karnad, emeritus professor in national security studies at the Centre for Policy Research, the think-tank in New Delhi, discusses the implications of Xi Jinping being re-elected for a third … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Australia, Bhutan, China, China military, civil-military relations, 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, Indo-Pacific, Japan, MEA/foreign policy, Russia, russian military, society, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Taiwan, Tibet, Trade with China, United States, US., Western militaries | 1 Comment

Technology & War, Understanding strategic threats, Chinese influence ops in India

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

This TEDx talk, recorded in July 2022, on the above subject of “Technology & War” may be of interest Two more recent (Aug 23 and Sept 13) talks on DEF TALKS regarding ‘Understanding strategic threats to India’ and on ‘Chinese … Continue reading →

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A Grand bargain — a Ladakh DMZ for McMahon Line, is absent. Jaishankar’s peace on a piecemeal basis benefits China.

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Bharat Karnad

The one thing tried and tested diplomats are not supposed to do is use wrong words that convey or signal the wrong message, and provide ammunition to the adversary. In the wake of the verified pullback (begun Sept 8, completed … Continue reading →

Posted in asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Decision-making, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, geopolitics/geostrategy, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Indo-Pacific, MEA/foreign policy, Military/military advice, Northeast Asia, Pakistan, Russia, society, South Asia, Tibet, United States, US. | 26 Comments