Times of India: “India’s deep unease over China’s growing military might and assertiveness as well as intransigence about the boundary dispute resonated at a military brass conclave on Monday, with defence minister AK Antony also underlining the threat posed by the expansive nexus forged between Beijing and Islamabad.
Português: Nova Délhi (Índia) – Desfile do Dia da República, na Rajpath. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
China’s approach to India on the long-standing boundary dispute and other issues, even after the recent leadership change in Beijing, “is not likely to change” in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the Indian armed forces need to “constantly develop” their capabilities to achieve “minimum credible deterrence” against China, said Antony.
The minister, addressing the closed-door Army commanders’ conference, did point out the government was trying to resolve issues with China in a “peaceful” manner, and also cited the new bilateral boundary management mechanism as “a positive development”.
But Antony also stressed it was crucial to modernize the armed forces to counter China’s “military assertiveness”, including its massive development of military infrastructure along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in other neighbouring countries, like the Gilgit-Baltistan areas of Pakistan, said MoD sources.
India has belatedly taken some steps to strategically counter China but much more needs to be done at a rapid clip. While IAF is now progressively basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the north-east and the Navy is bolstering force-levels on the eastern seaboard, the Army’s Rs 81,000-crore plan to raise a new mountain strike corps with associated structures is yet to take off.”
via Antony warns Army against threats from China, Pakistan – The Times of India.
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