India isn’t capable of building an effective missile defense system, according to Chinese media.
But does this reflect a problem with India – or is China trying to discourage its rival from building defenses against Beijing’s ballistic missiles?
“Generally speaking, although India has made considerable progress in the independent R&D and deployment of ballistic missile defense system in recent years, it is still faced with a string of difficulties, such as inadequate capital, unsmooth R&D process, heavy reliance on other countries regarding key technology, and incomplete systems,” writes Fang Xiaozhi, a researcher at the BRI Institute of Strategy and International Security at Fudan University. “New Delhi has a long way to go before it can establish a truly effective ballistic missile defense system and fully exert its real combat force.”
The article appeared on chinamil.com, the Chinese military’s English-language Web site. Though the article included a disclaimer that it did not necessarily reflect the views of the Web site, it seems unlikely that an official People’s Liberation Army site would have run the story unless it was intended to convey a message.
