Lot of resources been shifted from other arms of PLA to its navy: Indian Navy chief

A day after the Chinese Defence Ministry released a white paper on its military development, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday said a lot of resources have been shifted to the PLA Navy from other arms of the People's Liberation Army and India will have to watch it carefully.

The white paper titled 'China's National Defence in the New Era', released in Beijing on Wednesday, touched upon various aspects of its military development comparing with India, US, Russia and other countries.

"It is not just the Chinese white paper, it has been said in the past also. Lot of resources have been shifted from other arms to the PLA Navy obviously in line with their intention to become a global power. We have to watch it carefully and see how we can respond within our budget and constraints that we have," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an international seminar here on shipbuilding.

Responding to a question on the second indigenous aircraft carrier, the Navy chief said, "Our plan is to build a 65,000-tonner possibly with electrical propulsion and CATOBAR".

CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery or Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier.

To a question on budget for the defence sector, he said, "We require long-term fiscal support to build a navy, that is the only way we can plan. And, this has been my constant refrain".