Xi, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, called the progress China had made under his watch "truly remarkable
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China on Wednesday announced a 12.2 per cent increase in its defence budget taking the military spending for this year to $132 billion, far above India's $36 billion.
Lauding the bravery displayed by the soldiers, the prime minister said: "The bravery that you and your compatriots showed, a message has gone to the world about India's strength."
'Amid the frequent cries that the defence budget falls short of what is needed, we tend to ignore the reality that any enhancement in the allocation is just not possible, and the armed forces have no option but to operate within this constraint.' 'So, unless deadwood -- especially manpower -- is identified and eliminated, we simply cannot have a modern military of the type that India needs,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'The potential of one such LAC engagement going out of control and leading to heavy casualties cannot be ruled out,' warns Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The capital outlay for the three services, for modernisation, stood at Rs 78,586.68 crore
The external affairs minister, delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture, also made it clear that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is 'unacceptable' to India.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
The Indian Navy has deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region to send a clear message to China following the escalation of the border dispute in eastern Ladakh.
Gen Naravane also said the Army will enhance combat capabilities along the border with China so that it is fully prepared to deal with any security challenge.
'It is crucial today to realise where we have reached in this 15 year-period in order to fully and properly assess the profundity of what General Rawat has said,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Unimaginative increments, persistent refusal of funds have turned the military into an underfed child scared to ask for a full meal.
Parrikar also released the revised strategic guidance document in view of the prevalent geo-economic and geo-strategic scenarios.
'In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card,' said the report.
The statement came a day after Indian Army launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pakistani positions across LoC.
'Our political leadership needs to grasp that there is a difference between a soldier, policeman, trained private security guard and a chowkidar, though all of them provide security.' 'The cross border raids by the army could not be taken by the Central Reserve Police Force, for sure!'
'The travesty of recent Indian strategic thought is it emerges not from our brains, but from whatever part of the anatomy that secretes the prickliest hormones,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The Chinese being focussed more seawards is definitely better for India with China being the looming threat along our land borders,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
India's cumbersome arms procurement procedures and a plodding Ministry of Defence bureaucracy have long been blamed for shortfalls in combat capability. Now there is another, more worrying, reason - a growing crisis of funds, magnified by the lack of tri-service coordination.
India and Vietnam on Tuesday decided to ramp up their defence and security ties that will see supply of four naval patrol vessels to Hanoi and increased training of its military personnel, a month after India extended USD 100 million Line of Credit for defence procurement.
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
Its 'failure not just affects the military's effectiveness but could also be politically vulnerable for the BJP,' observes Ajai Shukla.
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Mikheev said Russia and India are holding talks with a view to sign a contract for 48 (Mi-17V-5) helicopters.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
'It could have moved from the use of small arms to artillery fire.' 'Anything could have happened like what happens on the LoC.'
After the Ladakh fiasco where Xi Jinping did not expect the Indian Army to resist his land-grabbing tactics, he has to save face before his colleagues in the Communist party.' To bring the threat of a mega-dam to the northern Indian border is a clever move, observes Claude Arpi.
Instead of ramming through change, Mr Parrikar has tied his own hands by placing reform at the mercy of numerous committees, says Ajai Shukla.
The proposals will help in the modernisation of the armed forces.
Most of the scanty 6.35% rise in the defence budget is accounted for by manpower and running expenses.
'We have to cut down on manpower to make more for equipment,' Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat tells Ajai Shukla.
Complaints of alleged irregularities have been received in connection with Army's plan to procure ultra light howitzers worth over Rs 3,000 crore and a committee has been formed to probe these charges, the government has told Lok Sabha.
'We must look at the entire question of military preparedness anew, taking into account the new realities,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
Being a pragmatist Modi is not likely to give preference to China over Japan. Both security and economic aspects are likely to shape Modi's decision in terms of engaging the two biggest economies of Asia, says Sana Hashmi.
He said it is the duty of the Air Force personnel to remain combat worthy and maintain combat systems operational for any contingency at a short notice.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that the 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, will be trimmed by three lakh.
Defence experts want defence expenditure to be at 3% of GDP, which they consider minimum to counter the two-front threat from China and Pakistan, internal insurgencies, and dominating a 7,500 km coastline and the Indian Ocean beyond. What Arun Jaitley has given India this Budget is 2.16% of GDP, observes Ajai Shukla.
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