India vs China on Military Strength - Conventional and Nuclear

As two rising Asian powers, India and China are often predicted by analysts to be the future global superpowers based on their economic boom with double digit GDP growths and their rising politico-social influence in the third world since the last few years. In the myriad economic and political analyses, often overlooked is the military comparison of these two countries. It is a nation’s military strength which ensures its sovereignty and paves the way for economic stability and prosperity. A comparative analysis is therefore just, to see how India and China fare in military strengths against each other and in the global scene.


China’s military spending in 2008 is about $ 95 billion as estimated by the United States DoD (Department of Defense) reports while the official Chinese CPC government quote is a $30 billion military expenditure. The actual Chinese military capabilities and budget are shrouded in deep secrecy to prevent foreign countries having an idea of its military power…and perhaps to generate a lot of hype. Even if we were to go by the conservative official Chinese claims of $ 30 billion, it would put China second only to USA in global military spending - a very ambitious one at that. On the other side, India’s official military spending is quoted as $22 billion for 2007 by the Ministry of Finance (India) Budget (2007-2008) last April. India however, does not keep a level of secrecy as cloaked as China does, primarily because of its democratic government system and public accountability. By its official 2008 military budget figures, India stands at 9th position in global military spending.

In 2008 India’s active military personell numbered over 1,325,000 while China’s was significantly higher at 2,255,000. In the air defence area, China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Air Force has 9,218 aircrafts of which about 2300 are combat aircrafts, operating from its 489+ air bases. The Indian Air Force has 3382 aircrafts which includes 1335 combat aircrafts operating from 334+ land bases and its sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat. 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 (no indigenous fighters or aircrafts have been built by India so far). Indian Navy is the world’s eighth largest navy with a with a fleet of 145 vessels consisting of missile-capable warships, advanced submarines, the latest naval aircrafts and an aircraft carrier in its inventory. It is experienced both in combat and rescue operations during wartime and peace as seen from its wars with Pakistan in 1971, the December 2004 Tsunami, etc. On the other hand, China’s PLA Navy with its 284 fleet is quantitatively larger but primitive in actual experience and training as compared to the Indian Navy. China has no aircraft carriers in its naval fleet at present but is slated to build and induct an aircraft carrier by 2010.

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. Agni 2, India’s longest range, deployed ballistic missile is capable of a range of 2500 km, carrying a single nuclear warhead of 1000 kg. In stark contrast, China’s nuclear delivery system is far more advanced than India’s, with multi-warhead MIRV capable ICBMs like DF-5A [12000+ km] and DF-4 [7500+ km]. It also possesses submarine launched SLBMs like JL-1 [4500+ km] and strategic fighter bombers like Su-27 Flanker in its nuclear weapons delivery arsenal.

In economics we learn that incentives drive decision making both by a nation and by an individual. In case of India, a democracy with no serious military adversary, its militarisation drive is often overshadowed by internal militancy issues and political struggles. In case of a communist China, it has a powerful military adversary in USA; their conflicts over Taiwan issue giving China a strong incentive to beef up its military defence to counter the United States. The situation is much similar to that of USSR vs USA Cold War, albeit on a smaller scale. The end result is China walking far ahead of India in military power with overpowering superiority if both conventional and nuclear forces are taken into account. However for the next couple of years, India and Japan will continue to boast of the best and most capable conventional military forces in Asia…