India to buy sophisticated weapons by reducing expenditure on ordinary soldiers: Chinese scholar.

BEIJING -- The Indian new military recruitment policy called "road of fire" ignited the anger of young people and the violent protests against it spread from one place to another like wildfire, Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law observed on Monday

India wants to buy more sophisticated weapons from the United States, which are very expensive. So, Narendra Modi came up with the idea to reduce the expenditure on ordinary soldiers, he added.

Prof. Cheng, who is also Senior Fellow of the Charhar Institute, noted that on June 14, the Indian government announced a military conscription policy called "the road of fire".

According to the new policy, the Indian army will no longer recruit soldiers with a service period of more than 10 years, but recruit soldiers with a contract period of 4 years.

At the end of the four-year service, 75% will no longer enjoy the original health, education, pension and other benefits. They will be thrown back to their hometown after a one-time subsidy of small amount.

He opined that this reform has two main purposes: First, more military budget will be set for the purchase of sophisticated weapons and equipment.

India's military expenditure in 2021 was about 76.6 billion US dollars, ranking third in the world. However, more than half of the budget was spent on the salaries and pensions of military personnel, while this part of expenditure in other countries accounts for only 1/3.

In the past, India mainly bought arms from Russia, which were cheaper.

Now India wants to buy more sophisticated weapons from the United States, which are very expensive. So, Narendra ModiA came up with this idea to reduce the expenditure on ordinary soldiers.

Second is to make soldiers younger. As we all know, for decades, the Indian army has been full of bearded soldiers.

Being a soldier means having a lifelong job. This is one of the main reasons why the Indian army does not have much combat effectiveness.

Prof. Cheng further observed that these days, thousands of young people took to the streets and held demonstrations in many traditional recruiting sites.

Violent demonstrations took place in Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and many other...