The recent explosion on one of India's Russian-built submarines and even the launching of an Indian aircraft carrier has prompted the Chinese to mock India's fleet:
“Paper tiger” was the term used by the Communist Party-run newspaper, the Global Times, to describe the Indian navy, which has been locked in a fierce buildup race with the Chinese navy.
The newspaper challenged India’s claim that the INS Vikrant is “indigenous,” calling it a “brand of 10,000 nations” because the ship is said to have used French blueprints, Russian air wings and U.S.-made engines.
“[The submarine’s explosion] seems to have provided a footnote to India’s real naval prowess,” the Global Times reported Monday in language that clearly gloated about the mishap.
Given that India has operated carriers for decades and that China's first carrier is a converted Soviet carrier, the carrier mockery seems misplaced. And Chinese submarines are either Russian models or lousy Chinese copies of Russian models. But the trends are not favorable to India.
India will have problems matching China's fleet that cannot be quickly resolved and which will dampen Indian plans to double the size of their navy manpower:
Finding more sailors is difficult in India because of some unique problems; mostly having to do with corruption. A major economic problem for India is the lack of education, especially for younger children. Corruption has crippled the existing public education system, with many teaching and administrative jobs in schools considered patronage (to be given to supporters of politicians rather than those qualified to teach). The patronage jobs are often of the “no-show” (except to collect pay) variety. Patronage teaching jobs have long been a major problem in India and the reason India has such a difficult time providing qualified workers for technical jobs (those that at least require basic reading and math skills).
India will still have home-turf advantage by being in the Indian Ocean already. Land-based air power will help immensely in fighting a Chinese fleet that attempts to sail west of Singapore. But India needs a better fleet. And they need allies and capabilities capable of inflicting losses on the Chinese navy as it transits the South China Sea and passes through the choke points between that sea and the Indian Ocean. Military assets on the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands would help, too.
On the other hand, Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles (if they work) could be deployed to reach the Bay of Bengal, making India's fleet vulnerable before a single Chinese ship or sub reaches the Indian Ocean.
