In recent years, India has become one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world.
In 2023, India's GDP will also surpass United Kingdom and rank 5th in the world.
Economic growth is naturally reflected in various aspects, such as the expansion of industrial scale, the improvement of the industrial system, and the improvement of people's lives.
But beyond that, perhaps the self-confidence of the Indian people is more prominent.
On the Quora forum, a netizen once asked a question, that is, "If United States and India go to war, can India defeat United States in the war?" ”
For this question, presumably the answers of netizens are also relatively unified.
However, the India netizens who left a message under it are full of confidence in this, believing that if United States and India really go to war, then United States will be defeated by India.
Where exactly does this confidence come from? Is India's military really so strong?
1. Competition of military strength
If India and United States go to war, is there really a chance of victory for India?
This naturally has to be compared intuitively from the aspect of military strength, if you talk about military strength, in fact, India is still quite strong, ranking second in the whole of Asia, second only to our country.
In the world, India ranks fourth in military power.
From this point of view, India may really have the strength to fight with United States
India's army is still quite large, with more than 1.4 million active troops.
As for the total active duty strength of the United States, it is also about 1.4 million, including the army, navy, air force and marines.
In terms of military strength, the strength of the two sides is also exactly equal.
However, in modern warfare, the size of the force may not be the decisive factor in victory, and the key is to depend on the sophistication of the equipment.
As we all know, United States is the world's number one scientific and technological power, and the development of various industries is extremely fast.
Especially at the level of national defense and military industry, United States has never relaxed.
As far as the current situation is concerned, the United States also has many advanced weapons that it is proud of, such as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, stealth fighters and nuclear missile submarines.
Can India really rival United States in this regard?
Judging from the information disclosed by the India side at present, it is impossible, and if we talk about India's military industry, we can't help but sigh.
Despite its fast-growing economy and huge market support, India's domestic military industry has not developed as fast as we imagined.
Take the Tejas fighter and Arjun main battle tank produced by India, these projects themselves were officially established in the 80s of the last century, but they were not officially delivered to the India army until 2016.
The speed of project development is indeed a bit of a rush.
Not to mention the military equipment that has been delivered to the India army, and there are technical limitations, such as the Arjun tank that cannot even work in high temperatures.
Since the development of India's domestic military industry is so backward, why did India become the fourth in the world?
The answer, of course, is international economic and trade cooperation.
India cannot produce advanced and sophisticated weapons and equipment on its own, so it can also be purchased through imports.
India is still quite keen on international arms and trade cooperation.
At present, most of the fighters, tanks, and missiles used by the India army are actually purchased from other countries.
In order to ensure India's national defense strength and military combat power, in the development of 2023, India's defense budget will also reach about 5.94 trillion rupees.
This figure is also an increase of 13 percentage points from the previous fiscal year.
Of this amount, Rs 1.63 trillion is spent on defence capital to buy new types of weapons and military equipment from other countries.
This can also show that India's large number of armaments and military combat capabilities have a greater demand for export-oriented imports.
This also makes people wonder if these equipment from different countries can really achieve good synergy on the battlefield.
Even if it can be achieved, can it really be compared with the world's largest military power, United States? Presumably, we have already produced a clear answer in our hearts.
Second, the economic disparity
From the perspective of the military level, India may not be comparable to United States, but what about the economic level?
As the saying goes, "fighting a war is fighting for money," in modern warfare, in fact, the competition is definitely not only about the military hard power between the two sides, but also about economic factors that have a greater influence.
United States is the world's largest economy, with a GDP of 27.36 trillion in 2023.
As for India, the GDP value in 2023 is about 3.7 trillion, and in terms of economic aggregate, there is still a big gap between India and United States, even only 1/9 of United States.
I have to say that the gap at the data level is still quite obvious, and as for the actual development status, it is actually quite a big gap.
Indeed, over the years, India has become one of the world's fastest-growing emerging economies.
According to the GDP value of fiscal year 2014~2015, the GDP growth rate of India is as high as 7.3 percentage points.
Ten years ago, the economy was already growing at such a high rate, and today, 10 years later, it shows no signs of slowing down.
In terms of development in the first two quarters of this year, India's economic growth rate has also accelerated to about 7%.
Of course, this is naturally related to India's demographic dividend and low-cost advantages.
In time, India's economic indicators may indeed be able to catch up with United States.
However, behind the high growth, there are actually many problems in the India market.
Although India's economic growth rate is extremely fast, the gap between the rich and the poor in India is large, the distribution of social wealth is uneven, and the corresponding gap between the rich and the poor has become more and more obvious in recent years.
From the perspective of market industry, although India's industrial market has become more and more diversified in the development of recent years.
However, the development of various industries is still extremely uncoordinated, and even some industrial chains are still missing, and the degree of dependence on foreign countries is relatively obvious.
As for the United States, the economic development situation in recent years is actually not good, high debt, severe market inflation, coupled with a crisis at the supply chain level.
These factors have also had a negative impact on the actual economic and market development.
However, in comparison, the industrial market of United States may be relatively coordinated, and the operation efficiency of the supply chain is higher than that of India.
Especially at the level of high technology and the military industry related to national security, the United States attaches more importance to it.
If a large-scale armed conflict does break out between the two sides, then in a short period of time, the United States market and supply chain may be able to support the military, but it is not clear whether India can do so.
3. International influence that cannot be ignored
In addition to the direct comparison of military power and economic comparison, in fact, international influence is also an important factor to consider.
After all, this is closely related to the development of the market, international trade and military dispatch.
At this level, the United States naturally does not need to go into too much detail.
In the entire Western world, the United States has a strong voice and dominant position, and its "allies" also include a number of NATO members.
As for Asia, countries such as Japan and Korea will also support United States, and most of them will be in the United States camp.
Relatively speaking, India is more embarrassed in this regard.
In terms of trade, India has only reached a comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN, Malaysia and other countries, and the relevant cooperation is only limited to some market industries.
This also clearly reveals the fact that India is far from being able to match United States in diplomacy and international politics.
If a large-scale armed conflict really broke out between United States and India, then United States can indeed close India's export-oriented trade as much as possible through sanctions.
This has been able to seriously affect the development of India's military industry and economic growth.
In addition, the United States will use its international influence to exert diplomatic pressure on other countries.
Under the pressure of United States, no country is willing to stand in the same camp as India, and India may be isolated in the entire international community.
More importantly, the United States may also create momentum to draw other Western allies into its camp and launch a powerful military strike against India.
This is not impossible, and there are many examples in history. The same is true for Russia in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.
epilogue
Through the comparison of intuitive military strength, economic development and international influence, it can be found that India is naturally far from comparable to United States.
This can also intuitively show that if India really broke out a large-scale armed conflict with United States, then India's victory rate is naturally very small.
India netizens' attitude towards this issue may indeed be a little overconfident.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis.
As things stand, it is naturally unlikely that a large-scale armed conflict will break out between the two sides.
Moreover, this is not what the people want to see, so India netizens do not have to indulge in the illusion of whether they can defeat United States.
For India now, the competition in terms of economic or military power is not really important.
The key is how to better improve the people's livelihood and improve the efficiency of market development and social productivity.
Resources:
India netizens predicted: If the United States and India go to war, United States will be defeated! Where does this confidence come from?
2024-08-25 22:23·知识TNT
United States netizens: If there is a war between United States and India, will India win the war against United States?
2024-08-05 12:14· Qingshi said
India's economic growth accelerated to 7%, and Modi was re-elected
2024-05-27 22:53· CBN