Edited and translated by People's Daily Online
India plans to recruit 100,000 soldiers over the next five years and send them to the China-India border areas to cement its military strength there, according to a report by the Times of India on Nov. 2. India's defense ministry has already approved a 13 billion-U.S. dollar military modernization plan.
The average growth rate of India's military spending has stood at 7 percent to 8 percent for more than a decade, and its military spending ranks ninth in the world. India is also the world's largest arms imports country. The spread of the "China threat" theory, the increase of troops to the disputed areas near the China-India border, and the display of a tough attitude toward China all aim to make a breakthrough in further increasing military spending.
Despite India’s huge military spending, its economic growth has recently been slow, with last year’s economic growth rate hitting a six-year low. It is very difficult to considerably increase military spending for military buildup amid the economic downturn, so India needs to first create a tense atmosphere and transfer domestic problems in hopes of securing more military spending.
India has continued to hold joint military drills with China's neighboring countries over a recent period, showing it evidently intends to contain China. Furthermore, India's move to send an additional 100,000 soldiers to the China-India border areas is consistent with its earlier actions aimed at containing China.
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