By James Lamont in New Delhi
Senior Indian military officers have voiced their concerns about a widening gap between India and China?s defence capabilities, as New Delhi falls behind in the modernisation of its armed forces.
At a time when Beijing is unveiling advanced military hardware, including a prototype stealth-fighter jet and its first aircraft carrier, India?s military establishment is increasingly critical of bureaucratic paralysis, as New Delhi has been beset by anti-corruption protests.
Indian commanders say that the government?s reluctance to make decisions is hampering their ability to guard against a ?collusive threat? from two nuclear armed neighbours – China and its ally Pakistan.
?Our defence budget is $32bn, China?s is $91.5bn. Their unofficial spending probably takes the total to $150bn. How are we going to match up?? asked P.C. Katoch, a retired lieutenant general.
Colonel Rajesh Kundra, director of the Perspective Planning Directorate at the Ministry of Defence, added that India?s defence budget had lacked consistency over the past six decades, ?waxing and waning? in response to crises rather than preparing for them. Their misgivings come as China becomes more assertive across the region.
Last week the Indian government acknowledged that one of its warships was challenged by the Chinese navy off the coast of Vietnam in late July. On Monday, China?s foreign ministry denied that there had been a confrontation.
While India is one of the biggest arms buyers in the world and maintains a 1.1m-strong army, serving and retired officers are critical of both strategic planning and politicians suspicious of military spending.
?We have celebrated our 64th independence day, and we still don?t have a national security strategy,? Lieut Gen Katoch said. ?The ministry of defence does not have a set-up for strategic thinking.?
?The instruments of state action have become dysfunctional,? said K. Shankar Bajpai, the chairman of India?s National Security Advisory Board and a former ambassador to the US. ?India?s strategic interests extend between the Suez and Shanghai . . . but we have neither the manpower nor the strategic thinking to handle these challenges.?
Indian commanders are particularly frustrated by delays surrounding the establishment of a Mountain Strike Corps along the Himalayan border with China, in response to People?s Liberation Army-related infrastructure projects in Tibet.
Additional reporting by Girija Shivakumar in New Delhi
? The Financial Times Limited 2011
