Mumbai, March 6: India has maintained its position in the top five military powers in the world while neighbouring nation Pakistan has ranked 13th on the Global Firepower List 2017. Out of the 133 countries mentioned in the list, United States of America (USA) is at the top followed by Russia at the second position.  China has settled for third, India ranks fourth while France is the fifth nation that has the strongest military prowess in the world.

According to GFP report, India leads China in terms of total armed personnel with India’s 4,207,250 personnel against China’s 3,712,500. China leads in terms of active personnel with 2,260,000 troops compared to India’s 1,362,500.  The report cites that Indian Air Force has 2,102 aircraft slightly lesser than China’s 2,955.

In terms of reserve components, India’s components were assessed to be 2,844,750 while China trailed with 1,452,500. The report further states that the Indian Army is equipped with 4,426 combat tanks, 6,704 armoured fighting vehicles, and 7,414 towed artillery guns, as per the list. Meanwhile, the Chinese Army has of 6,457 tanks, 4,788 armoured fighting vehicles, and 6,246 towed artillery guns.

Ranking Countries
1 United States of America
2 Russia
3 China
4 India
5 France
6 United Kingdom
7 Japan
8 Turkey
9 Germany
10 Egypt

When submarines were compared, China has more submarines (68) and destroyers (35), and a total 714 naval assets. In terms of maritime strength, the Indian Navy has three aircraft carriers against China’s one.

It must be noted that the Global Firepower index relied on 50 parameters like military resources, natural resources, logistical flexibility, geographical features, and available manpower.  On their assessment methodology, Global Firepower in a statement said that their formula allows smaller, though more technologically-advanced, nations to compete with larger, lesser-developed ones.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 02:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).