Indian forces still wary of China
RAJAT PANDIT
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003 06:03:19 PM ]NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit to China might have ushered in a new upward trajectory in bilateral ties but the Indian armed forces continue to keep a watchful - and concerned eye - on the Red Dragon's rapid modernisation of its air, naval and ground forces.
Army officers feel that while upswing in ties is a welcome development, India cannot afford to slacken its vigil on the eastern front.
"Our military strategy revolves around maintaining a strategic balance on both fronts... ensuring 'credible deterrence' against Pakistan and 'affordable deterrence' against China," said an Army officer.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), spurred by a double-digit hike in its budget for the 14th straight year, is galloping ahead with its modernisation programmes.
These range from inducting solid-fuel mobile Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) like the 8,000-km-range 'DF-31' to undertaking new-generation fighter aircraft production projects.
The defence ministry has said, "Every major Indian city is within the reach of Chinese missiles and this capability is being further augmented to include submarine-launched ballistic missiles."
Apart from aiding Pakistan, China's upgradation of its strategic capabilities, growing military presence in the Indian Ocean and construction of "road, rail and air heads" in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) continues to cause concern here.
The ongoing 1,118-km railway project to link Gormo in Qinghai province in mainland China with Lhasa in Tibet, for instance, will enhance the induction and sustenance capability of Chinese troops in TAR.
India's strategy is to continue efforts to achieve "dissuasive capability" against China. Towards this end, New Delhi also plans to test the China-specific 3,000-km-plus Agni-III missile by end-2003 or early-2004.
India may have acquired Sukhoi-30MKI fighters to hit targets deep inside China, but the six times larger PLA Air Force is still several steps ahead. Apart from inducting SU-27s and SU-30MKK fighters, the PLAAF has several ongoing fighter production programmes.
The new J-10 multi-role fighter, for instance, has entered the production phase.
PLA has seven air-bases, four in TAR and three in south China, which can be used for operations against India. "But we are augmenting our network of ADDCs (air defence directional centres) and JADCs (joint air defence centres) in the East to counter this," said an IAF officer.
"One advantage we have is that the Chinese air-bases are situated at an average height of 10,000 feet, which reduces the weapon load carrying capacity of their fighters," he pointed out.