A Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force takes part in the first day of the 11th Aero India show in Bangalore on February 14, 2017. File Photo: CFP/MANJUNATH KIRAN

 
Chinese experts said on Monday that India should not perceive China as a rival for its military development, after the chief of the Indian Air Force claimed ahead of the Indian Air Force Day on Tuesday that China is outpacing India in technology, defense production and infrastructure.

India "lags behind" China in military technology and "is way behind" in defense production, the Times of India quoted Indian Air Chief Marshal AP Singh as saying on Friday in a run-up to the Indian Air Force Day.

Singh said that with China "steadily eroding" India's air combat advantage along the frontier by deploying a greater number of aircraft, his force is also upgrading its forward airbases and advance landing grounds. At the same time, he is asking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for faster delivery of indigenous Tejas fighters and the private sector to play a much bigger role in defense production.

In a separate report on Monday, India Today said that the Indian Air Force demonstrated its ability to "shoot down Chinese spy balloon-type objects" in a controlled exercise a few months ago using a Rafale fighter jet under the Eastern Air Command's area of responsibility.

The exercise comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over Chinese surveillance activities using similar high-altitude balloons, the India Today report claimed.

The Indian Air Force is sensationalizing China's reasonable and legitimate national defense development, using China as an excuse to gather more funding and put more pressure on India's domestic defense industry, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday.

Many of India's indigenous defense projects have been facing challenges including long development cycles, slow production rates and high costs, the expert said

The current situation along the China-India border is generally stable, and the hype by the Indian Air Force is not conducive to the improving bilateral ties, the expert said.

China and India held in Beijing on August 29 the 31st Meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs, where the two sides agreed to work together to turn the page on the border situation at an early date, according to a press release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on the same day.

India has the right to develop its national defense, including its independent defense industry, but such development should not be based on perceiving China as a rival, as China does not have the intention to engage in an arms race with India, observers said.