Although a Marathi, Gokhale chose to specialise in India’s Northeast,  its  insurgency and  the army's counter-insurgency operations. Through his travels to the remotest corners of the region and interaction with several underground outfits leaders’  and  army troops on ground he acquired an insider’s view  on the troubled region . As a result, his writings show a rare combination of compassion and deep knowledge about the northeast.  Simultaneously,  Gokhale is also well known for his reportage on defence matters and particularly his coverage on the Kargil war for Outlook in 1999 . Since March 2006, he is heading NDTV's Defence and Strategic Affairs beat.

A reputed journalism teacher and resource person at various seminars and workshops  on subjects of defence and terrorism, Gokhale has three authoritative books—one on Assam’s tea industry vis-a-vis militancy, another one on Illegal Migration from Bangladesh into Assam and one on the Kaziranga National Park—to his credit