This remains China's secret weapon to defeat India:
The problem India has with corruption is compounded by a resistance to prosecuting the senior Indian politicians and bureaucrats who keep these corrupt practices alive. Since the 1990s there has been growing popular pressure to shut down the corruption that pervades every aspect of government and commercial enterprise. Indian officials went along with this public sentiment as much as they could without actually halting the illegal practices and the huge amounts of cash that ended up making so many politicians rich. With so many of the best foreign weapons suppliers unwilling or unable to do business with the Indian procurement bureaucracy it became difficult to find anyone willing, or able, to provide the modern weapons India wants. Thus the need to wait for a clear emergency and then invoke FTP, which the bureaucrats cannot mess with.
After a bloody incident that China initiated in June, India has pushed back against China's subliminal offensive along their common border that slowly grabs territory on the Indian side of the line. I'm not so sure India can back this up with their defense industry. That lack of credibility will harm an Indian effort to restore the status quo based on a show of Indian strength and resolve.
We shall see if China accepts that end to China's subliminal offensive.
I suspect China can dominate any ground force escalation and has the edge in the air.
Would India escalate to the sea to challenge Chinese sea lines of communication and make this a general war with no end in sight?
At that point are we measuring the edge in nuclear weapons?
