Category Archives: society

Not in the spirit of indigenisation

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The stellar achievement of the late APJ Abdul Kalam in the national security sphere was the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) responsible for the Prithvi and especially, the very advanced, highly accurate and lethal Agni series of ballistic missiles. … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Israel, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 2 Comments

Brain-dead Bozos

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Am I the only one who has noticed the usual major foul-up — par for the course for such incidents in India — at the Dinanagar police station, in Gurdaspur district in the terrorist attack Monday? Every police agency in … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, domestic politics, guerilla warfare, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, society, South Asia, Terrorism, US. | 9 Comments

Prime integrator

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

APJ Abdul Kalam was a good man, a surprisingly soft man but with a core as hard as Damascene steel. On the several occasions I met and talked to him he reinforced this impression without revealing that kernel. He came … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Weapons | 1 Comment

India-US N-Deal: Was a Deep N-Game at Play in India’s Containment?

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

At the controversial core of the India-US nuclear deal is the intent. The context was the emerging geopolitics of China’s “peaceful rise” and the need to stop it from dominating Asia. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s BJP government sought technology and American … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons | 4 Comments

N-Iran only postponed

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The deal with Iran announced with great fanfare by Obama hides something critical and obvious under a heap of hope. Iran’s nuclear weapons capability has merely been put on hold, not done away with. All the mechanisms described at length … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Culture, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Iran and West Asia, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Russia, society, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia | 2 Comments

‘Uf yoo ma’ at Ufa

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Remember that song with the nonsensical lyrics — “Uf yoo ma” in that Dev Anand-Asha Parekh starrer of yore, Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai? These words meant nothing but denoted joyous and uplifted spirits! In the Russian town of Ufa, … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Maldives, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Russia, society, South Asia, Sri Lanka | 5 Comments

“We don’t need an enemy……”

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Devesh Kapur of the University of Pennsylvania yesterday spoke at the Nehru Memorial Library on “India; The Suffocating State”. He retailed information that is familiar to most of us but with a twist in the tale. His most telling line … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Culture, domestic politics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Air Force, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, society, South Asia, Weapons | Leave a comment

Great developments on the Tejas front; duplicate them for FMBT

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

Leadership has often been the difference between a successful and failed indigenous armament or weapons development project to which national prestige is committed. After the departure of Dr Kurt Tank from the HF-24 supersonic fighter project and the sidelining of … Continue reading →

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, domestic politics, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Russia, russian military, society, South Asia, Technology transfer, United States, US., Weapons | 27 Comments

Sour Grapes and Screw-ups

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

The long rumoured book by AS Dulat, head of RAW during the previous BJP government, has finally hit the bookshops. Haven’t bought the book yet, but from the available news reports on it, the author has avoided genuinely deconstructing many … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian para-military forces, Indian Politics, Internal Security, society, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism | 4 Comments

Ladies bringing down a Manmohan-itis-infected PM?

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Bharat Karnad

For a supposedly strong, no-nonsense guy, with a streak of ruthlessness in him — a necessary accoutrement of any successful politician, incidentally — Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems infected by Manmohan-itis. His indecisiveness is a revelation and harks back to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, domestic politics, Europe, Indian democracy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, society, South Asia | 1 Comment