KOLKATA: There is immediate need to speed up procurement of combat aircraft and increase Indian Air Force's strength to 42 squadrons if India wants to be a credible deterrent to any aggressive stance by any other nation in the region, former chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha (retd) said on Friday. He was speaking at The Calcutta International Dialogue on 'India-China Relations — Resolving Contentious Issues' organized by the Research Centre for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies, Kolkata (CENERS-K).

"India needs to invest in military power to become a credible deterrent. The armed forces must have the capability to inflict severe punishment in the case of any aggression. A country should not be seen as weak. This encourages bullies. India has no option but to dominate the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Navy needs to strengthen its submarine wing and needs more maritime surveillance aircraft. The IAF has a good number of helicopters and transport aircraft but needs to speed up procurement of combat aircraft," Raha said.

The IAF now has around 32 squadrons and experts believe that this is inadequate. According to the former air chief, neither the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) nor defence public sector undertakings have been able to develop adequately.

"While opening up defence production to the private sector is a positive move, the situation is bad at the ground level. Delays in procurement are affecting the capability of our armed forces. India also needs more satellites and large tri-services exercises every year. The country also needs to sell defence equipment to friendly countries and carry out bilateral or trilateral exercises with them," Raha added. 

According to Lt Gen J R Mukherjee (Retd), former chief of staff, Eastern Command, China will continue to try and outflank Indian forces at tri-junctions along the Line of Actual Control by arm-twisting neighbours like Bhutan and Nepal. "In my opinion, no early resolution to the crisis between China and India is possible. Unfortunately, we are not making efforts to make India militarily strong," he said while agreeing with Srikanth Kondapalli, professor in Chinese Studies, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University that India is making great strides towards developing military infrastructure.

Earlier in the day, former National Security Advisor and IB chief M K Narayanan said that conflict between India and China will increase and incidents like the stand-off at Doklam will be repeated. "I don't say there will be war, but there will be constant conflict. China is trying to make India friendless in the region. China's taking over of Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, Gwadar port in Pakistan and setting up of a naval base in Djibouti will only lead to worsening of relations between the two Asian giants," he added.