India has no territorial ambitions, neighbourhood situation very delicate: Raha

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha today said India has no territorial ambitions, except for recovering the territories that the country had lost to its neighbours.
The Chief of Air Staff, who is also Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee, said "there are doubts whether the rise of China is going to be peaceful or not" and "we have no option but to be prepared to meet such a challenge in the near future".
"....India has no territorial ambition, except for recovering the territories that we lost because of the history that we had to our neighbours. So we might like to recover those. But otherwise we have no intention of any territory being occupied by us from our neighbours or otherwise," Raha said here.

Delivering the Air Chief Marshal L M Katre memorial lecture, he said, "But we have a hostile border, with the legacy of the British rule and the conflicts we have had in the past. So we are vulnerable in terms of our security."
India had to have the capability to not to wage war because its aim is to avoid conflict, but to deter an adversary from launching operations against us or waging a war against us, he said adding that air rpt air force can play a key role rpt role in it.
"So who is going to deter? What sort of capability do we require which will give us this deterrence against our adversaries?"

Stating that there should be striking capability deep into the enemy's heartland, Raha added it can be provided "through aerospace power, Air forces of the country. That is how we can explore the vulnerabilities and criticalities of any adversary."
"That means we have to build up our striking power which would deter an adversary from launching any offensive against the country," he said. "To my mind that national instrument which will provide the best defence and deterrence would be in the shape of aerospace power of the nation.