My opinion is as follows as regards Indian forces today:
1. Chinese do not fight like India. If Chinese fight, they will make trouble in rear too. The number of insurgent groups in NE is not good for a fight.
So can India. Expect Tibetan Rebels to get enormous support in such occassion.
2. The number of artillery pieces - both deployed and available are too low for an effective defence.
True it is low in no. But too low to effective defence is nothing about blowing out of proportion. The terrain anyway negate much of the effect of long range artillery. But IA does have shorter range RPGs, Carl Gustavs etc. to give a bloody nose.
3. There are many places where tanks can be used and most likely will be used. I should have used the word "armoured vehicles" in place of tanks perhaps. India's BMP-2 are obsolete. T-72 and older tanks are not very useful. India's production of modern tanks is simply inadequate.
And what does China have that is so far superior to BMP-2s? Anyway, again the terrain would wreck havoc on any armoured vehicle as troops carrying RPGs and man-portable ATGMs can close in on the enemy using the terrain for cover.
4. The Su-30 and Mirage fighters will hold off Chinese planes for some time, but the risk is attrition and damage to airfields.
The aircrafts taking off from plains of India can carry more weapon load and fuel than aircrafts taking off from Tibet and other high altitude airfields. So, their endurance would be greater on a sortie compared to chinese. Even more, India have more airfields closer to border than chinese. Attrition logic also works both ways, as china also doesn't have an unlimited supply of A/Cs or airfields. Though, china being china they would initiate the attack and thus would probably cause more damage by simple logic that throwing the first punch makes it more likely to get one in than one who is reacting.
5. India's strength are soldiers and they can hold a Chinese advance with sheer willpower, but with very high losses.
Again, due to the terrain the defenders get the better chance of survivality simply due to its knowledge of terrain where the aggressor is going in relatively blind. India's strength no longer is simple soldiers, but quite good technologies that are being introduced from Fire-Locating radar to LCH, to AWACS and satellite.
6. Chinese hold a very large number of tactical missiles and there is a fear of use of such missiles against strategic targets.
And who told you that Chinese do not fear the same from India? True, most of the vitally important strategic targets in china is located a bit far for India to reach, but still will china be able to ignore the risk to any targets in closer area?
7. The sum total is such war will bring only costs and no benefit. There is logic in fighting a war if you at least have a possibility to win. Here there is no such possibility.
This is very true. India doesn't want war with anybody, period.
