Indian Army chief says must keep neighbours on board to counter assertive China

Reuters: Keeping the neighbouring nations close would help balance China’s assertiveness, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said yesterday.

The Army chief, speaking at a news conference in New Delhi, stressed on the need to extend “wholehearted” support to neighbours like Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to keep them on board.

China and India were engaged in a 73-day standoff at Doklam in the Sikkim sector that ended on 28 August, 2017. The standoff emerged after Chinese troops were stopped by the Indian army from constructing roads along the Doklam border.

General Rawat also called for arming the force with modern weapons and technology keeping in view the country’s adversary and not necessarily copying what the world armies had.

India’s military is deployed on the border with China as well as Pakistan and says it has to plan for a “collusive threat” from them both. For decades it relied on the former Soviet Union to supply planes, ships and artillery. Then it turned to Western manufacturers including France, the UK and the US.