CHINA-INDIA: GLOBAL TIMES HIGHLIGHTS THAT CHINA LAUNCHED THREE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN THE TIME IT TOOK INDIA TO LAUNCH ONE
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A critical Global Times (July 30) article reporting that India's first indigenous aircraft carrier
was handed over to the Indian Navy, said that it took India over 12 years before the start of sea
trials in August 2021, and the final delivery in July 2022 according to Indian media
reports. During that period between 1999 to 2022, China made a breakthrough by launching
three aircraft carriers. Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times that the
Liaoning is a large carrier while the Vikrant is only a medium-size carrier. Song Zhongping
added that the base of India's military industry is relatively weak, so indigenous aircraft carrier
development is a challenge. China can design whole aircraft carriers by itself, but India can
only do part of the design. The Global Times added: "India has always believed that “the Indian
Ocean is India’s ocean” and that there is a need to develop a carrier-centric navy".
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