What about IAF fielding Single engine light fighters againist Pakis and Heavy MKIs n Rafales againist PLAAF.
Plans for defending skies of a country just don't work like that
You can expect the main assets of IAF being fairly distributed to match various threats from Pakistan, China and even a third player like Burma .
When you look at numbers, PLAAF is rising faster than IAF and it is worrying ( at least for a maybe uninformed outsider like me ) . 36 Rafale from 2019 to 2022 not enough ! Whatever you add must come fast now. If you want a few dozens more Rafale jets being delivered starting from 2020 with a fair share of Indian made components, that should be possible at a very reasonable cost given all infrastructure, training and customization costs are already covered by the current deal.
Talking about costs, 100 Gripen won't come cheap either. From Bloomberg :
"The current single engine program could see about 100-plus made in India," said Rahul Bedi, a Delhi-based analyst with Jane’s Information Services. "This program alone could be worth $15 billion, considering 36 Gripen cost $4.5 billion to be made in Brazil. The 57 naval planes program will be another project and this could cost close to $10 billion."
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/...r-for-scale-to-meet-modi-s-make-in-india-plea