Category Archives: South East Asia

China narrows the South China Sea: Is arming Southeast Asia with strategic impact weapons the answer?

This piece was published in ‘Policy Forum’, Australian National University, Canberra, 26 August 2016 at http://www.policyforum.net/china-narrows-south-china-sea/ Bharat Karnad analyses China’s strategy in the South China Sea, and proposes a regional military solution, leveraging the power of supersonic cruise missiles, to … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Navy, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons, Western militaries | 1 Comment

Modi’s LEMOA will make targets of Indian bases

Indian defence minister Manohar Parrikar is set to visit the US Aug 29-Sept 1. News reports suggest he will travel thither expressly to sign the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), a suitably worded derivative of the standard Logistics Support … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Australia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Culture, domestic politics, Geopolitics, 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 policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Iran and West Asia, Relations with Russia, Russia, russian assistance, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 13 Comments

Narrowing the Seas: Security Ramifications of the SCS Verdict

There’s an aspect of China’s seeking to acquire dominance in the South China Sea that the verdict on July 11, 2016, by the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague, did nothing to address and, which difficult military problem, curiously, … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Defence Industry, DRDO, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Navy, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, Northeast Asia, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 9 Comments

Ambiguous news on the Wang front

The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in India ostensibly to inspect the arrangements for the BRICS summit in Goa later this year. His more immediate task is to explore just how determined the Modi govt is to stick to … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Japan, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, UN, United States, US., Vietnam | 4 Comments

Why Donald Trump is Good for India

NOTHING IS MORE dreaded by liberal America than the potential presidency of Donald J Trump. He means to blow up the foundations of the existing global order along with the current set of US foreign and military policies. Notionally ‘Republican’ … Continue reading

Posted in arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, disarmament, domestic politics, 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 Politics, Iran and West Asia, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, SAARC, society, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia | 11 Comments

Countering the Rogue Nuclear Triad of China, Pakistan and North Korea

Have advocated nuclear missile arming Vietnam as tit-for-tat policy against China from the time I was a Member of the (First) National Security Advisory Board in 1998-99 when Vajpayee was PM. It has been a regular theme in all my … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, Russia, russian military, SAARC, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Vietnam, Weapons | 49 Comments

Clever Chinese will sidestep the Hague verdict

All indications are the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the International Court at the Hague will tomorrow rule for the Philippines with respect to its sea territory encompassed by the Scarborough Shoal forcibly occupied by China. The court is expected … Continue reading

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Pakistan, South Asia, South East Asia, United States, US., Vietnam, Western militaries | 12 Comments

Finally Tejas in IAF service!

Congratulations, Team Tejas! This is a historic day for the Indian Air Force with the first two Tejas Mk-1 light combat aircraft inducted into service in the ‘Flying Daggers’ No. 45 Squadron were handed over to the IAF in Bangalore. … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, Africa, arms exports, Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh, Central Asia, Defence Industry, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Latin America, Maldives, Military Acquisitions, SAARC, South Asia, South East Asia, Sri Lanka, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Vietnam, Weapons, West Asia | 31 Comments

NSG and MTCR: Where does India stand?

Rajya Sabha TV in its program — ‘The Big Picture’ broadcast June 27, 2016 evening featuring a discussion on “NSG and MTCR: Where does India stand?” is accessuble at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRQUNYl7egI. The panel features former ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, … 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 Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, nuclear industry, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, nuclear power, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, 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 | 5 Comments

India’s NSG dream

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

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