With the Right To Information (RTI) and being a citizen of India, you would have always wanted to know about the military power of India. That is the reason we have crafted this article with details of the resources India has in the military forces. Here, we have drawn a comparison between the Indian military force and China’s military force. As both these countries are the most populous in the world, it makes more sense to compare the military base of the two.
China is constantly at war with India. The most recent is the border dispute that clashed in the Galwan Village this year in 2020. The tension resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China has not revealed its number of casualties. As per Indian reports, there have been 43 Chinese casualties. The reason for the war is unknown, but it lasted for six hours on 15 June 2020. The tension kept increasing and both countries have started to amass tanks and another military/ war equipment on the border. The Indian government had also ordered twenty-one MIG-29 and twelve Su 30 MKI fighter jets from Russia. Let us have a look at India’s military power in comparison to China.
Table of Contents
China vs India Military Power Comparison 2020
These are the comparison between the military power of India and China. You can find the details of personnel and equipment used in the Indian military system in comparison to that of China.
| Particulars | India | China |
| Capital | Delhi | Beijing |
| Population | 1.3 Billion | 1.4 Billion |
| Active Personnel | 1,444,000 | 2,183,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 2,100,000+ | 510,000 |
| Combat Tank | 4,426 | 14,286 |
| AFV | 8686 | 42,246 |
| Armoured Carrier | 1353 | 9251 |
| Armoured Car | 4655 | 10642 |
| Total Artillery | 5317 | 9726 |
| Rocket Projectors | 292 | 2317 |
Air Force Comparison of India VS China Army | ||
| Air Fighter | 520 | 1459 |
| Attack Aircraft | 694 | 1768 |
| Trainer | 359 | 314 |
| Helicopters | 725 | 1762 |
| Attack Helicopter | 23 | 281 |
| Transport Aircraft | 250+ | 243 |
| Tanker | 6 | 13 |
Navy Force Comparison of India Vs China Military | ||
| Aircraft Carrier | 1 (1 Underdeveloped) | 2 (1 Underdeveloped) |
| Destroyer | 10 | 36 |
| Frigate | 13 | 54 |
| Corvette | 19 | 42 |
| Submarine | 16 | 76 |
| Petrol Vessels | 139 | 220 |
| Mine warfare | 3 | 29 |
| Defense Budget | $61,000,000,000 | $237,000,000,000 |
| Merchant Marine | 1719 | 4610 |
| Ports & Terminals | 13 | 22 |
| Labour Force | 521,900,000 | 806,700,000 |
| Roadways | 3,320,410 Kms | 3,860,800 Kms |
| Railways | 63,974 Kms | 86,000 Kms |
| Nuclear Weapons | 150 – 200 | 250 – 260 |
Hopefully, this table has helped you understand the difference in the military power of the two countries. Looking at this we know how much stronger and more powerful the Indian military needs to be.
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Differences
India has a defense budget of $71.1 billion which is the third biggest defense budget in the world. However, China’s defense budget is $261 billion, which is three times that of India’s. These statistics are sourced from a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India has 150 nuclear warheads but China on the other hand has 320, which is more than double. Although India has lower active personnel than China, it has a much better bench strength. The bench strength of India is 21,00,000 reserve personnel whereas China only has 5,10,000 reserve personnel. With 4,292 tanks, India is ahead of China which has just 3,500 tanks. Apart from this, India also leads in the number of field artillery when compared to China.
What is saddening is the fact that India has only 235 self-propelled artillery and 266 rocket projections which is less than 10% of China’s. India possesses a total of 2,123 total aircraft including 538 combat aircraft, 172 dedicated attack aircraft, 77 special mission planes, 722 helicopters, and 23 attack helos. India’s fleet strength is 285 which included 1 aircraft carrier, 16 submarines, 10 destroyers, 13 frigates, 3 mine warfare ships, 19 corvettes, and 139 coastal patrol ships.
Young India Military Power in India
India has the highest number of youth in the world. It is a known fact that the youth are more energetic and enthusiastic. If the Indian military can find a way to divert this energy and enthusiasm into fighting wars, we will be unstoppable. The youth is very powerful. India has still not made full use of the young generation. These will definitely grow older and less fit. It will then be too late to find young power. How sure can we be that in the future we will still have a huge youth force and no other nation will make use of it? Now is the right time. The Indian Army has definitely taken a step towards this and introduced the tour of duty Army. This is will employ the youth in the Indian Army on a temporary basis. Based on the performance and skills shown during this period, they can find themselves a permanent spot in the Indian Army and contribute to the India Military Power.
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Areas in which China is stronger
- PLAAF is the second biggest air force in the world whereas IAF is the fourth largest.
- PLAAF’s mammoth fleet of fighter aircraft and advanced air defense systems poses an intimidating challenge to the IAF’s limited fleet size.
- PLAAF has an inventory of more than 2,000 combat aircraft, which is more than double the IAF’s 900 combat aircraft.
- PLAAF has a long-range strategic bomber fleet and holds more strategic assets such as airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft and combat drones compared with the IAF.
India’s strengths
- IAF pilots possess hands-on experience in high-altitude combat missions.
- The strategic location of bases near the LAC ensures uninterrupted support for India’s aerial assets.
- Combat-proven aerial platforms such as AH-64E Apache and CH-47F Chinook ensure reliability during conflicts, while the modern fleet of transport aircraft enables rapid transfer of equipment and supplies to the areas of operation.
- Although the PLAAF has started inducting J-20, which was claimed to be a fifth-generation fighter for its stealth features, it is believed to be not superior to IAF Rafale, a 4.5-generation aircraft.
Conclusion
India has more experience in fighting wars than China. It has fought many wars with Pakistan over the years and won all of them. The last war that China fought was with Vietnam in 1979. After that, China has no practice in fighting wars. When it comes to high altitude warfare, India is better prepared than China. There are many aircraft in India that are capable of flying at high altitudes, whereas Chinese pilots have to fly with limited supplies and fuel due to difficult weather conditions in their airbases near Tibet.
Even though both India and China are nuclear power countries, there is a lot of difference in their military power. What makes this comparison interesting is that India has been practicing war exercises with other big countries like the USA, France, and the UK. The Americans help India with intelligence when the situation seems to deteriorate. On the other hand, China has been fighting with many countries in different ways. The most recent one that shook the entire world is the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.
