India has shown growing concern at China’s spurt in military activity, including a boost to its defence spending in its last budget.
China’s recent rail and road links close to India’s north eastern border region along with the latest 12.7% increase in its defence outlay, has rung alarm bells in India. However, recent talk suggests that much of it is hype and rests on shaky strategic raison d’être.
Pic: AP.
Opinion is divided on potential Chinese aggression, even as the communist country amplified its defence expenditure. The United States is reported to have expressed concern over this increased activity in Beijing. India, however, has little reason to react and experts feel, is being rather hypersensitive.
“China is building roads and has also raised a few military installations close to the border with India, but that does not mean China is going to invade India,” Masood-Ur-Rehman Khattak, Research Fellow at the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI), told The Fresh Outlook.
