Indian army to add 100,000 soldiers on China border
It’s not just Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni — seen here as he arrives at a function after being conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army on Tuesday. India aims to recruit as many as 100,000 troops to station along the country’s border with China, according to press reports.
Shaken by China's saber rattling, India plans to recruit and station another 100,000 soldiers along the disputed borders of Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, the Times of India reported.
The troop increase will come over the next five years, as part of a $13 billion modernization program that will mark the largest expansion of the Indian army throughout India's 60-year history, the paper said.
India will raise four new divisions for positions along the India-China border — two of which will be part of a Mountain Strike Corps dedicated to offensive operations. The plan also includes raising two independent brigades, one in Ladakh and the other in Uttarakhand, the paper said.
Earlier this month, New Delhi gave the green light for the Indian military to deploy Brahmos cruise missiles in Arunachal Pradesh in India's first tactical missile deployment aimed at China, according to the Indian Express.