shortened URL
Analysts tell Sputnik about India’s military fragility, which faces China’s growing power in the Indian Ocean, both north and south.
A statement expert told Sputnik that India is unprepared to counter China’s growing presence in Ladakh.
Following an agreement with China, India has started withdrawing forces from Gogra Post, one of the 65 patrol posts in Ladakh, New Delhi said, hoping that China would also exit the Depsang area. However, no announcement has been made from China so far regarding the withdrawal of troops from Gogra.
Brahm Chelani, a strategic commentator who commanded a battalion in the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in 2017 criticized New Delhi for “voluntarily” accepting China’s proposed “buffer zone”, which is not only used by Indian forces Closes access to their traditional patrol points, but also includes further retreat into Indian territory.”
Noting that India’s neighbor has shown no progress on “joining Depsang”, Chelani claims that “another hotline, another meeting, etc. won’t help”, and that “many forces have not helped the way”. Like that the status quo has changed, it will take some time for complete dissolution.”
However, experts do not see that India withdraws a significant number of sites “due to loss of trust with China”, and that is why they believe that “the deployment is permanent, the two profiles , with winter and summer”. This will result in huge military expenditure by the Indian Air Force and Army, as it did in 2020, which is almost equal to the amount spent by the Navy on the maintenance of warships and submarines every year.
confrontation of two fronts
Experts point to Beijing’s three to four times larger military budget as the theory that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has no objection to additional spending in the region. The border is an obstacle to India’s expansion into the Indian Ocean, unanimously agreed by strategic thinkers and defense analysts, including Anil Jai Singh, commodore and submarine veteran, who also spoke to Sputnik.
“All new ships, for example, [a] 075 helicopter landing docks, the aircraft carrier or its nuclear submarine expansion program are now all designed to have broad sea capability to remain stable and operate in the Indian Ocean. They are no longer looking for a navy that can only defend China’s maritime borders.”
In addition, China is building its base in Djibouti, building a strategic presence in several major island countries in the Indian Ocean, and Chinese navies already in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
“Within ten years, China will have a permanent battle group of aircraft carriers stationed in the Indian Ocean. India should stop thinking about the Chinese Navy, and start thinking about the Chinese Navy of 2035 and the Chinese Navy of 2035. How is the Indian Navy. Compare,” warned Anil Jai Singh, who fears that in 2030 India will already have major difficulties in this regard.
New Delhi’s work is also hampered by recent cuts to the Navy, which was already a trend in December 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues with the recent budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Because of this, no more than 175 warships can be put into service by 2027, compared to the 200 more warships deployed earlier. There is also a serious shortage of mine ships, multi-military helicopters and conventional submarines.
The opinions expressed in this matter do not necessarily correspond to those of Sputnik Newsroom.
