How India compares with China in military prowess

New Delhi: As two rising Asian powers with high GDP growth and increasing geo-political influence, India and China have been arch rivals in their race to superpowerdom. We all know about the interest of China in Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls southern Tibet. Now if another war takes place over Arunachal Pradesh, what will be the outcome? Can India resist China's attack? There are no immediate signs of hostility on either border and a rare visit by China's defence minister to India last year has thrown into focus the latter's military capabilities to defend itself in a volatile neighbourhood, where India has fought five wars since independence. China's military expenditure is estimated to be $106.41 billion (Rs. 5.85 lakh crore), which puts China second only to the USA in terms of global military spending. But China's actual military spending is suspected to be twice as much; it is buffing up its war stores with strategic missiles, space-based assets, aircraft carriers, fighter jets and warships. On the other side, India's official military expenditure is quoted at $35.09 billion (Rs. 1.93 lakh crore). India however, does not keep a level of secrecy as cloaked as China does, as its democratic government system requires public accountability. India hasn't ignored the possibility of a two-front war at a time when Beijing's strategic intentions remain unclear. If such a scenario were to crop up, the Indian strategy would revolve around defeating Pakistan and holding China, experts said. 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Army Air Force (PLAAF) reportedly operates upwards of 3,500 aircraft, though much of the inventory consists of outdated designs.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. The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), too, is numerically superior to the Indian Navy. Compared to India's 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. India's active military personnel numbered over 13,25,000 while China's was significantly higher at 2,255,000. The best combat aircrafts in China's PLAAF are Russian Su-30 MK and indigenously built, 4th generation J-10 fighters. Indian Air Force, on the other hand has French built Dassault Mirage 2000s and Russian Su-30 MKI as the best aircrafts in its combat fleet. Indian Navy is the world's eighth largest navy with a fleet of 135 vessels consisting of missile-capable warships, advanced submarines, the latest naval aircrafts and an aircraft carrier in its inventory. On the other hand, China's PLA Navy with its 400 fleet is quantitatively larger but primitive in actual experience and training as compared to the Indian Navy. In strategic nuclear defence and delivery systems China's PLA is miles ahead of India's nuclear forces. China's nuclear arsenal which started stockpiling in 1964, contains more than 210 nuclear warheads. The most powerful ones among China's nuclear arsenal have yields of over 4 megatons. In comparison, India's strategic nuclear force which started stockpiling after the 1998 Shakti tests, has about 50-70 warheads at present. The most powerful among India's nuclear warheads has an yield of 0.05 megatons which is minuscule, compared to China. India's nuclear delivery system consists of bombers, supersonic cruise missiles and medium range ballistics missiles. In stark contrast, China's nuclear delivery system is far more advanced than. It also possesses submarine launched SLBMs like JL-1 and strategic fighter bombers like Su-27 Flanker in its nuclear weapons delivery arsenal.