Category Archives: society

Turkey do, Pakistan follow?

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

The US pledged “absolute support for Turkey’s democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions” and immediately ended the attempted coup in Turkey. This attitude of Washington must have come as a nasty surprise to the coup planners — the leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, corruption, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Iran and West Asia, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, United States, US., West Asia, Western militaries | 17 Comments

The old French tactic

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Defense News (US) recently carried a story that the French negotiators had upped their stance on the Rafale combat aircraft, now insisting that the $8.9 billion govt-to-govt contract be first signed for 36 planes before the supplier company, Dassault Avions, … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons | 29 Comments

Get on with testing A-5 and the on-shelf MIRV tech: No lame excuses please!

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Yesterday I was asked by the New Indian Express for my reaction to DRDO Chief Dr S Christopher’s reasons for the repeated postponement of the Agni-5 launch originally slated for 2015 Fall as not political but technical, specifically a “snag” … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, 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 Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Technology transfer, United States, Weapons | 13 Comments

India’s NSG dream

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

PM Manmohan Singh’s Special envoy on disarmament and nonproliferation, Ambassador Rakesh Sood, and myself discussed the Seoul NSG fiasco in the Maroof Raza-hosted program — Latitude, on Times TV aired June 23, 2016. The video of the program available at … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Iran and West Asia, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia | Leave a comment

Diplomatic mishap at NSG Seoul

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

It was an astounding misread of the international political situation for the BJP government to believe that just having Prime Minister Narendra Modi do rounds of his now trademark personalized diplomacy would get India a ticket into the Nuclear Suppliers … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Culture, disarmament, domestic politics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan nuclear forces, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 36 Comments

Washington — Heritage Foundation panel on ‘India’s Asia-Pacific outreach and relations with China’

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

In the lead-up to the Modi visit, there was a panel discussion in Washington, DC, at the Heritage Foundation May 25, 2016 on “India’s Asia-Pacific Outreach and relations with China” involving Lisa Curtis of the Heritage, Jeff Smith of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, 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, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, 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 | 2 Comments

Jiang Zemin for the gallows & Xi as supremo — what does it portend?

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

In August last year, there were newspaper reports that the former President and Chinese Communist Party party boss in 1989-2002, Jiang Zemin, and his two sons were “placed under control,” meaning a sort of house arrest, with restrictions on their … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Latin America, society, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Vietnam | 6 Comments

Modi’s US policy: Embracing Washington comes at a price

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

In the address to the United States Congress on June 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the evolving global situation as a “war of multiple transitions and economic opportunities, growing uncertainties and political complexities, existing threats and new challenges” which, … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, 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, Internal Security, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia | 2 Comments

Comparing and Rating Modi’s address to the US Congress

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

Resisted the impulse to react to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the joint Houses of the US Congress June 8, until now. It must be said though that it was a mostly dull speech full of banalities and stock … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian democracy, Indian Politics, Israel, Pakistan, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, United States, US. | 11 Comments

IDSA Panel discussion on ‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Bharat Karnad

IDSA held a panel discussion on my book — ‘Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)’on May 18 involving RADM Raja Menon (Retd), Shakti Sinha, ex-IAS and former private secretary to prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, V. Siddhartha, former … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, corruption, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Iran and West Asia, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 3 Comments