New Delhi: China has maintained a huge military presence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India since the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, a statement from the US Department of Defense said on Wednesday. The report also said the PLA continues to focus on building capabilities aimed at dissuading, deterring or countering any third-party involvement across the Indo-Pacific region.
“PLA has not drawn down its positions or troop numbers since the 2020 clash and has built infrastructure and support facilities to maintain multiple brigade deployments along the LAC,” said Pentagon annual report on China’s military capabilities.
‘China focuses on securing border with India’
The Pentagon report said that the main objective of China’s Western Theatre Command was “on securing” its border with India. “In recent years, differing perceptions between India and China regarding border demarcations have facilitated multiple clashes, force build-ups, and military infrastructure construction,” it said.
The India-China border gets only a brief mention in the Pentagon report, which primarily focuses on China’s broader military capabilities. Despite challenges such as a slowing economy and corruption scandals, China is quickly advancing its global power projection capabilities, said the report. It also said China’s growing tendency to use “increasing willingness to use military coercion and inducements” to achieve its goals while striving for an expanded global presence.
China’s nuclear arsenal to top 1,000 by 2035
China is rapidly modernising, diversifying and increasing its nuclear arsenal, with over 600 operational warheads currently in its stockpile. The country is projected to increase this number to more than 1,000 by 2035. “The PLA seeks a larger and more diverse nuclear force of systems ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles to ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) with multi-megaton yields to provide it multiple options on the escalation ladder,” the report said.
On the counter-space capabilities, China has been advancing technologies designed to “contest or deny” other countries’ access to and operations in space. These developments include direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles, co-orbital satellites, electronic warfare systems and directed-energy weapons such as lasers.
