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India's Growing Military Might Worries Its Neighbors
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15271 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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Date : |
8 / 1989 |
2,853 Words |
| Author
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Richard P. Cronin
Richard P. Cronin is a specialist in Asian affairs with the
Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect views or policies of the
Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress, or
the U.S. government. |
India's growing military power and regional activism, the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the recent improvement of Sino-Soviet relations, and some improvement in Indian-Pakistani relations since the election of the government headed by Benazir Bhutto all suggest the potential for a major realignment of power relationships in Asia. Some look to an eventual loosening of the Indo-Soviet connection and consequent opportunities for better U.S.-India ties on the basis of India as the dominant regional power. Others question whether India is capable of exercising responsible regional leadership and see ominous implications in its recent tests of intermediate- and short-range ballistic missiles.
India's potential to become a major power has long been apparent. In sheer numbers alone, India cannot be ignored. Even with a population growth of 2.1 percent per year (relatively low for Third World country), India's population is expected to exceed that of China in the first half of the next century.
Following the debacle of its border war with China in 1962 and a stalemate in its 1965 conflict with Pakistan, India managed to mobilize its latent power potential more effectively in the 1970s. Under Indira Gandhi, the country's armed forces dealt a humiliating defeat to Pakistan's army in East Pakistan and played midwife at the birth of Bangladesh. India's underground detonation of a plutonium nuclear device in 1974 underscored the industrial and scientific basis of its power and its ability, if it so chose, to become a full-fledged nuclear weapons power.
The recent test launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) named Agni
... (1994 of 18267 Characters)
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