China, to become whose counterweight India had been gearing up, is now firmly perched as an arbiter of the match-up between India and Pakistan. So, the relative strength of China’s armed forces has been growing. Beijing has not been just spending, but also upgrading the quality of its armed forces. The bulk of India’s outlay on the armed forces goes towards pay and pensions. It is imperative to bring down the pension bill, if India is to retain its strategic autonomy.

Source: Economic Times May 04, 2019 17:35 UTC