I would like to add up one important thing.
This is a fact in general.
Throughout the world,
- There are weak and poor countries (Eg : somalia)
- Then comes countries with limited Military power and economy, To defend against small scale proxies or constraints. (Eg : Nigeria, Sri Lanka)
- Then comes countries that have vast trade relations, Quite an economy, Good military buildup, But they are in Development phase, the pace is slow. They have big militaries, Inventory of weapons, A fragile but functioning economies, Squeeze it and you can get some drops for procurement. They have average to no indigenization.They have relationship troubles with some countries. (Eg : Pakistan, Egypt, India)
- Countries that have wealth, They always have the power to procure things they want, Economy on top. These countries generally are preferred by every vendor due to the “Cash in pockets”, Everyone wants them as customers. They are powerful but lack influence and face hurdles for coming out loud. (Eg : KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar)
- SuperPowers - Countries that have huge economy, Infrastructure is there, Development graph has no to least change, curve is flat and on top. They have local industries or excess means to buy weapons, Maintain Huge forces and influence over other countries. (EG : USA, Russia, China)
Now, Take this scenario.
China and India, A war happens, Why ? What is the reason ? What is the meaning of war ? What is the difference between war and battle ? Are the Conflicts we know as war, Are actually wars or battles or just ops ?
Is war Not categorized ?
In fact, Wars can be categorized into three Categories.
- Absolute War
- Instrumental War
- Agnostic Fighting
Absolute war is unrestricted and unregulated war,
Agonistic fighting is regulated according to norms,
and
Instrumental war may or may not be restricted, according to considerations of expediency.
What The OP is considering here is Absolute War. Total Annihilation of either of the sides, But why ? Any Major Absolute War in the 21st century is directed upon the enemy’s economy and then on the Military Might. The spine of a country is Economy and To small extent, Military, But it varies from region to region where sometimes both are equally important. One can’t survive without the other.
For instance, Country such as KSA, Has Huge economy, Military Might is surprisingly not what such economy can actually support given the huge defence budget, (Military should be double or triple to what they are, Pakistan has 6 times smaller budget yet military is huge by multiple folds).
Coming back to total annihilation war between China And India, First question arises, “
WHY ??”
What can lead to such disaster ? Such wars only happen if either of the country deems the destruction of the other is the ONLY key to survival. When did that happen the last time in the world ? Soviet Invasion ? Cold war ? WW2, WW1 ? Break everyone for survival ?
Fortunately, China and India doesn’t seem to share such thoughts mutually, Both parties know the consequences, India never openly comes out threatening China “Officially”.
China on the other hand, Knows, Any disturbance from any part if the world, Be it South China sea potential conflict, Conflict with India, Or any other state, Will lead to collapse of China’s economy, Export industry will be lost, Customers go elsewhere, Engine stalls then breaks, Take CoViD-19 as a Real Life and RealTime example, Look what has happened to the world, Would anyone want such to happen without preparing for backups ? Simple Answer is NO.
World will intervene in case of any conflict, the intervention would be Real and From the core. Prevention will be the ultimate solution unless one wants to introduce WW3 where USA backs India against China, Sides are made, Pakistan acts accordingly, Russia has to decide whether to part with or part ways.
Let me highlight another important Factor of
Why A war wouldn’t happen Between India And China.
Simple, SuperPower and A country belonging to Point No.3 (refer to the table above) can’t fight, Doom for the latter, Economy breaks, The little might they gathered over years destroyed in a matter of week or even days, Feet cut, Vulnerable by the weakest.
As stated earlier,
Superpowers have enough cash to sign huge weapons deals for the lowest time period contracts ie, They can afford to pay cash upfront on spot, have cash to spare all the time for such huge deals. Their primary focus is not building up but maintaining what they have.
OTOH, Countries from Category 3, They spare money but with problems, Not easy to do that, Economic problems, Civil crises, Poverty, They all are the Limiting Factors. It takes these countries decades to build up some might that a super power can pay in a matter of 3-6 years and can gather a might more than these Cat3 countries. Cat 3 countries take decades, smallest of the deals take 3-5 years to materialize, Cash isn’t upfront, rather on installments, They allocate from defence budget every month just for something not so big.
SuperPowers also usually have local industries to manufacture weapons on urgent basis when needed, This helps in war.
So when Cat 3 countries fight against Super powers, Victory isn’t certain but stalemate has some chances while defeat is imminent.
To defeat a superpower, Nuclear is the way.
TLDS : India doesn’t stand a chance against the economic, Infrastructure and military might of China for even a week in a ‘TOTAL ANNIHILATION WAR’ unless Nuclear comes on the table to cool things down or worsen it.
@Mangus Ortus Novem @SIPRA @Slav Defence @WebMaster @HRK @Signalian @Blacklight @The Eagle @Dazzler @dbc @aliyusuf @jaibi @Bilal Khan (Quwa) @Verve @RescueRanger @notorious_eagle