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Military power of India & China

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India vs China

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India China

India is a country located in Southern Asia with an area of 3,287,590 km2 (land boundries: 13,888 km and costline 7,000 km). The capital of India is New Delhi. The number of inhabitants is 1,352,642,280.

The Indian Armed Forces were chiefly focused on China and Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought several conflicts since 1947. The Sino-Indian War between China and India occurred in October–November 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main cause of the war. The inventory of the Indian Armed Forces consists mostly of Russian- and Soviet-origin equipment along with a smaller mix of Western and domestically-produced arms. Russia has been the leading supplier of arms to India. France, Israel, and the US also among the major arms suppliers. India's defense industry is capable of producing a range of weapons systems for indigenous use and export.

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China is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 9,596,961 km2 (land boundries: 22,457 km and costline 14,500 km). The capital of China is Beijing. The number of inhabitants is 1,444,390,177.

The People's Liberation Army is the military arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which oversees the PLA through its Central Military Commission. The PLA is outfitted primarily with a wide mix of older and modern domestically-produced systems heavily influenced by technology derived from other countries. Russia is the main supplier military equipment outside the domestic industry.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 66 billion $ 293 billion $
Percent of GDP: 2.2% 1.7%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 816 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 1,400,000 2,035,000
Reserve personnel: 800,000 2,000,000
Available for military: 319,129,420 385,821,101

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 4,614 5,750
Armoured fighting vehicles: 8,600 14,130
Total artillery: 2,799 7,094
Self-propelled artillery: 100 2,720
Rocket artillery: 960 3,140

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 2,263 4,630
Fighter aircraft: 173 1,049
Multirole aircraft: 405 1,130
Attack aircraft: 120 120
Helicopters: 729 1,355
UCAV (combat drone): 12 151

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 12,930 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 267 742
Aircraftcarriers: 1 4
Destroyers: 11 38
Frigates: 13 54
Corvettes: 23 73
Submarines: 16 74

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

India

India is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy

India has not released any official statements about the size of its nuclear arsenal. As of January 2020, India was estimated to have around 150 warheads.

China

The last of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT, which at this moment possesses approximately 280 nuclear warheads in total. Nevertheless, the number of deployed bombs is unknown. The first test that occurred to be successful occurred in 1964. The main goal of Chinese was to build a deterrent against two major nuclear powers, namely The United States as well as The Soviet Union. The nation decided to choose dried lake for the nuclear site, Lop Nur. Although China developed and tested its first atomic device only in 1964, they managed to test their first hydrogen bomb only 32 months later. As a result, they can boast with the shortest period between developing fission and fusion technology.

China managed to conduct 45 tests of nuclear weapons. Still, the data regarding the stockpile of accumulated warheads is uncertain. The same thing concerns the number of deployed warheads. It is all due to the limited information that the country provides. We should also bear in mind that they are the only country out of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT that does not give a positive security assurance.

Military service

India

16-18 years of age for voluntary military service (Army 17 1/2, Air Force 17, Navy 16 1/2); no conscription; women may join as officers, but for noncombat roles only.

China

18-24 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with a 2-year service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs; a recent military decision allows women in combat roles.