The vice chief of Indian Army Sarath Chand on Tuesday said China is bound to be a threat for India in the future, reported PTI. He also criticised Pakistan for targeting civilians and firing at schools.
“On the North, we have China which has a large landmass, huge resources and a large standing army,” Chand said at the inaugural session of AMICON 2017, a two-day conference organised by the Army and the Confederation of India Industry. “Despite having the Himalayas between us, China is bound to be a threat for us in the years ahead... As the second largest economy in the world, it is racing to catch up with the US.” The United States is the world’s largest spender on defence, while China is second on the list, according to data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Chand said a major portion of China’s defence expenditure is undeclared. “A large portion of Chinese defence expenditure remains undeclared... On the west, Pakistan smaller economy, smaller army... thus they took the route of low-intensity conflict, which suits China,” he said.
About Pakistan, he claimed the country had bombed a school and continued to shell it while Indian forces attempted to evacuate the building. “This is not something that we would do. It is unfortunate to see that they have stooped so low to fire on civilians and cause casualties to our children,” he said.
Chand also attempted to play down Army chief Bipin Rawat’s recent comment that India is ready for a “two-and-half-front war”, saying that all the general was trying to say was that India needed to boost security and pay more attention to its borders, PTI reported.
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