On what have you based this strategic assessment?
1. India has an aircraft carrier (Old, but there are more on the way), CHina does not.
2. India’s fleet is more up to date, and better armed.
3. The Indian Navy has greater expertise in offshore operations.
4. India’s submarine fleet (though D-E), is more advanced than the CHinese.
So how are the chinese fleets better?
My Oztrich Boy Unpatent Fleet Analayser rates the Chinese Fleet at equal second with Russia. Japan fourth. India equal fifth with Britian and France
Chinese ships don't rate as highly, but there are more of them. And China has clear leads in Submarines, Fast/Light Attack craft (probarly not that significant unless India intends invading China), and Amphibious ships (OK scratch the invasion).
But India has the experience of having had a balanced fleet of state of the art ships for the past 50 years, while China was on the growth curve of Light forces>50's standard Soviet>contemporary
On what have you based this strategic assessment?
1. India has an aircraft carrier (Old, but there are more on the way), CHina does not.
The current Indian Carrier is still in re-fit(as in not deployed) and it only has 14 obsolescent harriers due to lack of spare parts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier#India
2. India’s fleet is more up to date, and better armed.
Not in terms of Fleet Air Defense (No Aegis style air-defense ships in IN, 5 of them in PLAN)
Not in terms of C4I (No AWACs or advanced Global Hawk style Drones or significant Space Assets for early detection of enemy fleets)
Not in terms of number and quality of maritime strike aircraft
Not in terms of ASW technologies.
Not in terms of overall numbers.
3. The Indian Navy has greater expertise in offshore operations.
This is likely the case.
4. India’s submarine fleet (though D-E), is more advanced than the CHinese.
China’s Kilos and Yuans are AIP enabled, Indian Kilos are not.
China has 4 times as many Submarines as India.
China has 9 nuclear SSNs and SSBNs commissioned, India has 1 under construction.
So how are the chinese fleets better?
Pretty obvious.