IISS Report Warns India Preparing Military for Conventional Wars With China and Pakistan

The IISS released its 150-page Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment on May 28, stating that India is preparing its army for large-scale conventional combat operations arising from long-standing territorial disputes with China and Pakistan 123. The report described India's concurrent security posture toward both neighbors as a persistent "no war but also no peace" and stated that any future major conventional war would remain local, with cross-border strikes so far confined to Pakistan, including operations in 2016, 2019, and 2025 23. The report assessed India's border disputes with China as more traditional and less likely to reach the escalation threshold of Indo-Pakistani conflicts, given China's superior military capabilities along the LAC 24. The assessment further stated India would seek to avoid active military involvement beyond the Indian Ocean Region, including in a US-China confrontation over Taiwan 234.