May 22 – India’s Minister of State for Defense MM Pallam Raju stated on Saturday that China poses no threat due to India’s strong deterrence posture. Raju was responding to questions about whether or not China was a constant threat to India’s national security, and what steps have been taken to counter it.
“I think [China] is not a threat. We have a very healthy economic partnership with China, which is our neighbor. Of course, we do have differences on the perception of the border, which again at a very high level meeting of national security advisers we are thrashing these things out,” Raju said.
Raju highlighted the importance of India’s strong deterrence posture, which is currently being further strengthened. Indeed, India has already taken steps in the past year to strengthen their position, such a test-launching a missile last month that is capable of reaching all of China’s major cities. Furthermore, data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that India was the world’s largest arms importer between 2007 and 2011, accounting for 10 percent of the global arms market (China accounted for 6 percent).
Raju confirmed that strong deterrent capabilities were necessary to ensure that “none of our adversaries take us for granted.”
He explained that there is no reason for any conflict between India and China, and that both states are currently “trying to be mutually beneficial to each other.”
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