Taking on China: With defence budget squeezed, India hasn't walked the talk

The country is spending too much money on troops and not enough on modern weapons

As the People’s Republic of China continues its rise, Asia and the world are scrambling to keep their balance. Among China’s neighbours and rivals, few countries seem willing or ready to counter the challenge it poses. Japan is struggling with decades of diffidence internationally and the strictures of its postwar constitution. The countries of Southeast Asia are divided among themselves about the virtues of growing closer to China, while Australia is split internally over the same question. Europe is distant, Russia a reluctant Chinese ally -- and, of course, the US seems to have turned inward.

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