An Assessment of the Chinese Air Threat to India in the Year 2000

China with her booming economy wants to be recognized as a major player in shaping future world events. To achieve this she is diverting considerable attention to modernizing her armed forces. Her recent acquisitions of state of the art aircraft have important ramifications for India particularly when there is an outstanding border dispute between the two nations that resulted in the Sino-Indian war of 1962. Though with an increasing level of bilateral dialogue relations between the two Asian neighbors have improved yet one cannot discount the possibility of a settlement being deadlocked. In such a situation the geo-political outlook and threat perceptions of both nations would dictate the outcome. Any future conflict between the two nations would see extensive use of air power over an area that imposes some unique limitations on air power. This paper analyses the geo-political environment and thereafter focuses on the employment of likely air strategies.