As Dragon multiplies its war toys, India plays catch-up

[arp2041]

In 2009, the Indian Army carried out top-secret war games — codenamed Divine Matrix — aimed at analysing China’s threat to the country. The conclusion: China could attack India by 2017, and there was a possibility of Pakistan stirring the pot by trying to trouble India at the same time.

Three years later, while there are no immediate signs of hostility on either border, a rare visit by China’s defence minister to India last week has thrown into focus the latter’s military capabilities to defend itself in a volatile neighbourhood, where India has fought five wars since Independence.

While Beijing hailed General Liang Guanglie’s visit to India — the first by a Chinese defence minister in eight years — as “successful”, our military experts have cautioned against taking the eyes off the ball on the security implications of China’s rapidly modernising military.

Pakistan, they say, is not even seeded in the game. “We have adequate deterrence against Pakistan, but the policy of dissuasion against China needs to be upgraded to credible deterrence so that Beijing can’t spring a surprise. We are not quite there yet,” says strategic affairs expert Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).

STOCKING UP
With its defence outlay for 2012 officially pegged at $106.41 billion ( Rs. 5.85 lakh crore), but actual military spending suspected to be twice as much, China is buffing up its war stores with strategic missiles, space-based assets, aircraft carriers, fighter jets and warships.

China’s focus has shifted from land forces to air force and navy to expand its military reach.

India’s defence outlay of $35.09 billion ( Rs. 1.93 lakh crore) pales before China’s military spending. Islamabad, meanwhile, will spend $6 billion ( Rs. 33,000 crore) on defence this year, not factoring in American aid.

India hasn’t ignored the possibility of a two-front war at a time when Beijing’s strategic intentions remain unclear.

Defence minister AK Antony told Parliament in May that his ministry would seek an additional outlay of $8.18 billion ( Rs. 45,000 crore) from the Centre, factoring in “changed threat perception”, a euphemism for the possibility of China and Pakistan coming together.

If such a scenario were to crop up, the Indian strategy would revolve around defeating Pakistan and holding China, experts said.

The proposed increase will take India’s defence expenditure from 1.9% of the GDP to 2.35%. The country’s defence spending averaged 1.59% of the GDP from 1947 to 1962, when our army suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chinese.

Experts have argued India’s defence spending ought to be around 3% of the GDP to keep up with China’s military build-up.

NEED FOR SPEED
New Delhi is pumping billions into fighting machines such as stealth jets, modern fighter, aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, submarine hunter planes, special operations aircraft and attack helicopters. But the pace of induction needs to be sped up.

Former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Major says, “One-party autocracy is the secret behind China’s swift military upgrade. Democracies will have their delays.”

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
China is hard to beat in terms of sheer numbers. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) reportedly operates upwards of 3,500 aircraft, though much of the inventory consists of outdated designs. In comparison, the IAF has a fleet of 600-plus fighters.

But the PLAAF is fast ridding itself of obsolete platforms from the 1960s and inducting fighters such as Sukhoi-30s and JF-17 Thunder light combat aircraft.

“China may be upgrading rapidly but let’s not place it on a huge pedestal. The IAF can hold its own in a head-to-head comparison,” says Major.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), too, is numerically superior to the Indian Navy. Compared to our 135 warships, the Chinese fleet has close to 400 vessels, but the PLAN lacks robust blue-water capabilities to deploy forces far away from its shores.

EXPANDING FOOTPRINT
China is aggressively working on expanding its footprint in the Indian Ocean region, which the Indian Navy regards as its own backyard. The PLAN’s first aircraft carrier Varyag — bought from Russia in 1998 — is currently undergoing sea trials.

China eventually wants to deploy four to five carriers, an ambition that symbolises its growing maritime appetite.

Former navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta says, “We currently have an edge but the equation may change in a decade when the PLAN stabilises its integral air elements. They have also made significant advances in building new destroyers. We can’t afford to fall behind in fleet modernisation.”

There are other flanks that need to be covered as well. The army has not bought a single new artillery gun since the Bofors scandal exploded in the late 1980s. The $4 billion ( Rs. 22,000 crore) artillery modernisation plan has failed to take off.

Kanwal warns: “Firepower is a serious handicap. Also, we don’t have a mountain strike corps, limiting our capability to take the war deep into Chinese territory.”


As Dragon multiplies its war toys, India plays catch-up - Hindustan Times

 

[Night_Raven]

But the PLAAF is fast ridding itself of obsolete platforms from the 1960s and inducting fighters such as Sukhoi-30s and JF-17 Thunder light combat aircraft.

Well, this is news ....

 

[faithfulguy]

Well, this is news ....

I think this is news reporting creating news.

 

[Killswitch]

India can, with serious effort, make it very hard for China to even consider invading its territory. Id say the work is 40% complete.

Whats left:

Induct aircraft on order/ negotiated

F INSAS

Artillery modernization (155's are FINALLY being built)

Air defense (very behind on work here)

Once these are done strike corps can be set up

ICBM/AIR /SEA nuke triad

Infrastructure to allow proper deployment of all of the above. (work is slow but ongoing)

 

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

We're looking forward an arm race with India...

 

[Killswitch]

Kiss can you post a subtitled version.....

 

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

Kiss can you post a subtitled version.....

I wish I can...it's excite for Indians to watch since we all like to have arm race...you will see how we Chinese see you and interprete the situation with the Chinese way.

 

[Icewolf]

How many times I have to say it?? There is no comparison between India and China. China is 40 years ahead of you and China doesnt depend on foreign imports for its army

 

[Gessler]

How many times I have to say it?? There is no comparison between India and China. China is 40 years ahead of you and China doesnt depend on foreign imports for its army

40 years eh? Yeah sure, except that they can't build a frigate that's even 1 year ahead of our P-17

China imports billions worth defence stuff from abroad. Engines, missiles, hovercrafts, transport ac, choppers
and what not. and then shamelessly copies them. however its is PAKISTAN which is dependant on others
completely for survival (much like a parasite), USA and now China. stop clingling to people like that,
US shook you off and stomped on you and now you are crawling to attach yourself to China like a
Sea Anemone and crawl around with their copycat stuff.

It ain't gonna be long before the world crushes to death this little disease-causing parasite.

 

[Icewolf]

40 years eh? Yeah sure, except that they can't build a frigate that's even 1 year ahead of our P-17

China imports billions worth defence stuff from abroad. Engines, missiles, hovercrafts, transport ac, choppers
and what not. and then shamelessly copies them. however its is PAKISTAN which is dependant on others
completely for survival (much like a parasite), USA and now China. stop clingling to people like that,
US shook you off and stomped on you and now you are crawling to attach yourself to China like a
Sea Anemone and crawl around with their copycat stuff.

It ain't gonna be long before the world crushes to death this little disease-causing parasite.

When you sending dossiers over son. Thats the only thing you can do against other countries

And India gets the most aid in Asia and India has more poor than the rest of the world, so id expect India out of all nations to be laughing at aids, when reality you are the parasite which kills 5000 innocent children everyday due to poverty... Shame on you, are you happy??

 

[arp2041]

How many times I have to say it?? There is no comparison between India and China. China is 40 years ahead of you and China doesnt depend on foreign imports for its army

It's kinda funny, everytime i read a comparison post b/w India & China, the years gap b/w the two increases every time I don't even know how one gets to the year difference as such.

The catch is the difference between the two is not shown by an Indian or a Chinese member but a cheerleader

 

[Gessler]

When you sending dossiers over son. Thats the only thing you can do against other countries

And India gets the most aid in Asia and India has more poor than the rest of the world, so id expect India out of all nations to be laughing at aids, when reality you are the parasite which kills 5000 innocent children everyday due to poverty... Shame on you, are you happy??

Stupid exaggerated figures published by pakistanis. parasites like pakistan kill not only themselves but
also others, in the end the "others" return to kill you and all you can do is sit and watch.

President OBomber's drone strikes kill thousands in Pakistan

what can pakistan throw at countries killing your people other than dossiers? dirty bombs that
fail to burst??

 

[Icewolf]

Stupid exaggerated figures published by pakistanis. parasites like pakistan kill not only themselves but
also others, in the end the "others" return to kill you and all you can do is sit and watch.

President OBomber's drone strikes kill thousands in Pakistan'

Let me tell you a little fact buddy, more children in india die in 2 days due to poverty than 11 years of drone strikes in Pakistan, yemen, afghanistan combined

The startling figure still resonates in my memory. Some 25 years back, I remember reading a report in one of the major dailies which said that some 5,000 children die every day in India. Today morning, my attention therefore was automatically drawn to a news report: 1.83 million children die before fifth bithday every year: Report (Indian Express, Sept 8, 2010).

I immediately took out a pen and paper to find out the per day child mortality rate. I wanted to know whether the child mortality rate has come down, and by how much, in the last 25 years or so. My disappointment has grown. The calculations shows that every day 5,013 children are succumbing to malnutrition. Given that a half of all children in India are under-nourished as per the National Family Health Survey III (2005-06), of which over 5,000 die every day I think every Indian needs to hang his/her head in shame.

Globally, 14,600 children die every day. This means that India alone has the dubious distinction of having more than a third of the world's child mortality. This is ironically happening at a time when food is rotting in the godowns.

Yes, India is surely an emerging economic superpower, but building an Empire over hungry stomachs! Mera Bharat Mahaan!!

A new global report "A fair Chance at Life" by the international child rights organisation Save the Children is not only a damming indictment of the supplementary nutrition programmes that have been running for several decades now, but also is an eye-opener in many ways. While it tells us how hollow the global claims under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are, nationally it shows us the stark hidden realities. A country which doesn't get tired of patting itself in the back for creating an impressive list of 50 billionaires, and off and on does bask under the fictitious glow of Shining India, the dark underbelly remains deliberately hidden from the media glare.

Let us look at what the report says: "Of the 26 million children born in India every year, approximately 1.83 million died before their fifth birthday. “What these aggregate figures do not reveal are the huge inequities in mortality rates across the country, within States and between them, as well as between children in urban and rural areas.”

Half of these children actually die within a month of being born. In other words, nearly 2,500 children of those who die have not even survived for more than a month. This is an indication of not only the inability of the parents to provide adequate nutrition to their new born, but more than that is a reflection of the impoverished condition of the especially the mother. Does it not tell us to what extent poverty and hunger prevails in this country? Do we need to still work out more effective parameters to measure hunger and malnutrition? Do we really need to find a new estimate of people living below the poverty line (BPL)?

Madhya Pradesh tops the list, followed closely by Uttar Pradesh. The under-5 mortality rate in Kerala was 14 deaths per 1000 live births. This stood at a sharp contrast to Madhya Pradesh at 92 per 1000 and 91 per 1000 for Uttar Pradesh.

I am reproducing below a news report from the pages of The Hindu (Sept 8, 2010):

'Children from poorest section 3 times more likely to die before age of 5 than those from high income groups'

Children from the poorest communities are three times more likely to die before they reach the age of 5 than those from high income groups, Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation has said.

In a global report titled A Fair Chance at Life, the organisation said the policy to lower child mortality in India and elsewhere appeared to focus on children from better-off communities, leaving out those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

“The 41 percentage decline in child mortality over the last two decades masks a dangerous expansion of the child mortality gap between the richest and poorest families in India,” Save the Children CEO Thomas Chandy said.

Child mortality is often described as the best barometer of social and economic progress. Despite being one of the fastest growing economies, there has been no visible pattern between per capita income growth and the rate of reduction of child mortality rates. In 2008, 5.3 lakh children under 5 died in the lowest income quintile in comparison to 1.78 lakh among the wealthy quintile. The rate of decline between 2005-06 and 1997-98 among the lowest income quintile is 22.69 per cent, compared to 34.37 per cent among the high income quintile for the same period.

Of the 26 million children born in India every year, approximately 1.83 million died before their fifth birthday. “What these aggregate figures do not reveal are the huge inequities in mortality rates across the country, within States and between them, as well as between children in urban and rural areas,” Mr. Chandy said.

The under-5 mortality rate in Kerala was 14 deaths per 1000 live births. This stood at a sharp contrast to Madhya Pradesh at 92 per 1000 and 91 per 1000 for Uttar Pradesh.

“Every child has the right to survive and the Indian government has an obligation to protect them. Save the Children's research shows that prioritising marginalised and excluded communities, especially in the States lagging behind, is one of the surest ways that India can reduce the number of children dying from easily preventable causes. The National Rural Health Mission, for example, should have a clear focus on social inclusion of Dalits and adivasis in terms of access to healthcare,” he said.

Save the Children's report comes two weeks before a high-level U.N. summit in New York from September 20-22 to assess progress against the Millennium Development Goals.

By demonstrating a political will and the right policies, MDG4 could be achieved in India. The good schemes in place needed to be matched by effective implementation. And there was enough experience in India proving that low-cost interventions can make the difference between life and death for a child, the report said.

DISGUSTING MAN

 

[Gessler]

@ Ice Wolf

DISGUSTING APE-BRAIN.

Thousands of fully-grown men, women, and even children are slayed in Pakistan with drone strikes,
which happen everyday, often twice a day.

Do you know that 350,000 children in Pakistan were devoid of basic medical requirements like polio drops? see this - Polio campaign troubles imperil 350000 Pakistani children

As per global average, atleast 15-20% of these children will die due to paralysis of breathing muscles, the
remaining are likely to be paralysed partially or completely, either limb or neck paralysis is very lileky. Remaining
will get killed in drone strikes very well.

Over 160 children dead in Drone attacks in Pakistan

Now throw your favourite dossiers at USA PDF's dossier-man Icewolf.

Ranked at 78th out of 80 less developed countries, Pakistan is the third worst place for a mother, according
to a Save the Children report. from here - http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...LUBeIOEGHsPFOhg_w&sig2=Zqjnq8gpWf-t4rCksC_67g

Now let's have a look at your great business development charts of Pakistan -

In the years 2007-08, FDI in Pakistan was 5.4 billion USD, by 2011-12, it had reduced to 740 million USD.
For 2012-13, it's only 70 million USD so far. Foreign investment in Pakistan | The Board of Investment

Just take a good look at your failing nation and your failing economy. I don't
know what kinda country Pakistan is. In PPP terms India is world 3rd at 4.45 trillion USD while Pakistan is
world 27th at 510 billion USD (2011 figures).How you have failed to achieve atleast 50% our PPP GDP
despite gaining independence 24 hours before India did! You export 30 billion USD, we export 300 billion USD.

By 2015, I'm sure FDI in Pakistan will reduce to 50 million USD, and that too mostly from China. What a
fiasco while India is developing, Pakistan seems to be declining!

This is the future of Pakistan.