Military should fund its own modernisation

With thousands of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers infiltrating across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh last year, the Indian military inched closer to its worst-case security contingency: A two-front confrontation with both China and Pakistan. A combination of hubris and strategic short-sightedness led New Delhi to miscalculate Beijing’s response to the dismantling of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir; and Beijing was further provoked by Home Minister Amit Shah’s bluster about regaining the disputed Aksai Chin area. Fortunately, temperatures have cooled somewhat, with a ceasefire in place since February on the India-Pakistan Line of Control and the PLA quiet after largely achieving its operational objectives in Ladakh. Even so, with a two-front confrontation likelier today than at the