While India maintains the ‘no first use’ principle for its nuclear power, Pakistan doesn’t have any such policy. It certainly makes India cautious of those elements in Pakistan who may use nuclear weapons against India.

It would, therefore, be risky for India to go into any aggressive war against Pakistan as the repercussions could be as serious as a nuclear devastation for both countries.

Pakistan spends about 3 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product on defence that amounts to approximately $ 4 billion while India spends about $20 billion (2.5 per cent of its GDP).

If we compare manpower and ground forces, India has 37,73,300 personnel, next only to China while Pakistan has only 14,49,000 personnel. Pakistan’s ground forces are equipped with American and Chinese weapons. Indian ground forces are equipped with mostly home-made and Soviet technologies with a large inventory of tanks and support vehicles. In terms of both, numbers and equipment, Indian military dominates the Pakistani ground forces.

Compare the Air forces, the Indian Air Force has over 1,70,000 personnel and 3,382 aircrafts, of which 1,330 are combat aircrafts operating from 61 airbases, making it the fourth largest Air Force in the world. India’s strike fighters consist of Russian and French aircrafts like Mikoyan MiG-29, Dassault Mirage 2000, Sukhoi Su-30. In addition to these, the Indian Air Force also owns ground attack aircrafts, reconnaissance aircrafts, UAVs and support helicopters a majority of which are of Soviet or French origin. The Pakistan Air Force has about 530 combat aircrafts and 65,000 active personnel, operating from 9 airbases. Its strike fighters consist of US, Chinese and ageing French fighters like F-16 Fighting Falcon, JF-17 Thunder and Dassault Mirage ROSE-III. It also has transport aircrafts like Lockheed Martin C-130 and Airbus A 310. Unlike India, however, there are no UAVs or reconnaissance aircrafts with the Pakistani Air Force.

On the naval power front, the Pakistan Navy owns over 45 vessels including submarines, destroyers, frigates, patrol and mine warfare boats, a majority of which are of US or European origin. It operates from its sole naval port in Karachi.

The Indian Navy, on the other hand, is a three dimensional naval force consisting of missile-capable warships, an aircraft carrier, mine sweepers and a host of marine aircrafts. Most of the warships in the Indian Navy are indigenously built in its own dockyards. Operating from major naval bases in Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Goa and the Andaman Islands, the Indian Navy has significant capabilities of being a true “blue water” navy that is experienced in both war and peacekeeping operations in the Indian Ocean.

In addition to ground attack aircrafts, both India and Pakistan have a series of ballistic and cruise missiles. While the maximum range among India’s operational ballistic missiles is 2,000 km (Agni-2), the maximum among Pakistan’s missiles is pitted at 2,200 kms (Hatf V Gauri).