Category Archives: South Asia

General Ballistics

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Book Review: General V.K. Singh with Kunal Verma, Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography [New Delhi: Aleph Book Co., 2013], 364 pages. Published in ‘India Today’, December 18, 2013 ———— Jawaharlal Nehru with great perspicacity noted in 1948 that accepting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, civil-military relations, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Sri Lanka | Leave a comment

$2 Billion and counting…

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Documents by Agusta-Westland in an Italian court dealing with IAF’s scam deal for the AW 100 helicopter for VVIP use, mention “the Family” in political India which had to be paid off for the deal to go through. The talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, South Asia | 3 Comments

ADZ violations — Chinese and Indian reactions

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Most countries announce their Air Defence Zones (ADZs).The idea being to demarcate the air space as an early warning system. Constant surveillance over the zone pinpoints intruder aircraft on possibly suspicious missions. If well inside the ADZ, fighter aircraft are … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China military, civil-military relations, Cyber & Space, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Indian Air Force, South Asia, United States, US., Western militaries | 4 Comments

Confluence of Interests on Seas

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

There’s certain symmetry in INS Vikramaditya’s imminent assumption of the flagship role in the Indian Navy, the launch in Japan of the Izumo, quaintly described as a “flat-top destroyer”, and the Japanese Emperor Akihito’s second state visit to this country. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, South Asia, South East Asia, Special Forces, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Technology transfer, Weapons | 12 Comments

Bharat Ratna for thwacking a ball?

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The prevailing mass delirium since the onset of the Cricket Test-series against West Indies has mercifully ended. The country can now return to normalcy. While I don’t grudge Sachin Tendulkar his Bharat Ratna — yet another instance of the Indian … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Army, Indian Politics, South Asia | 32 Comments

The flop ‘S-doctrine’

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Optics are often as, if not more, important than the contents of foreign policy in an age of instant impact and political reverberations. Despite rendering seminal help and material assistance to the Mahinda Rajpaksa regime to eliminate the Liberation Tigers … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Pakistan, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East | Tagged | 3 Comments

Technically proficient value-add to ‘Stop wasteful military deals’

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Reproduced here is the in-depth, technically proficient, response by @ersakthivel published in the New Indian Express to my “Stop wasteful military deals”. I am so much better informed now after ingesting his incisive comments. ————- IMHO the 200 Kg ballast … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Relations with Russia, russian assistance, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons, Western militaries | 21 Comments

Informed reaction on Rafale a/c to AVM Subramaniam’s response to ‘Stop wasteful military deals’

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Reproducing here the very well-informed reaction by @ersakthivel to AVM Arjun Subramaniam’s response article — “Ündermining national security” in New Indian Express at http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/Undermining-national-security/2013/11/07/article1876105.ece to my ‘Stop wasteful military deals’ NIE op/ed of Nov 1, 2013. It will help inform … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, DRDO, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Pakistan, Pakistan military, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Weapons, Western militaries | 2 Comments

Stop wasteful military deals

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Reduction of the Rs 4 lakh-crore fiscal deficit will require a drastic winnowing of defence expenditure programmes. The wasteful military procurement system that fetches, as it were, as much chaff as grain, offers obvious targets for excision. Among them the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Politics, Military Acquisitions, Relations with Russia, russian assistance, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Western militaries | 22 Comments

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