{"id":14764,"date":"2026-08-21T03:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T03:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=14764"},"modified":"2026-08-21T03:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T03:51:16","slug":"we-fought-wars-with-pakistan-too-but-china-will-be-indias-main-competitor-ex-army-chief-india-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=14764","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We fought wars with Pakistan too, but China will be India&#8217;s main competitor&#8217;: Ex-Army chief | India News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133392062,imgsize-53049,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg\" alt=\"'We fought wars with Pakistan too, but China will be India's main competitor': Ex-Army chief\" title=\"General MM Naravane (Retd) on China and Pakistan\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"General MM Naravane (Retd) on China and Pakistan\">General MM Naravane (Retd) on China and Pakistan<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Former Army chief General MM Naravane (Retired) on Thursday described China as India&#8217;s &#8220;main competitor&#8221; in the years ahead, despite India having fought wars with both China and Pakistan.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>&#8220;Pakistan and China are a totally different ballgame. We have fought wars with both of them. We have unsettled borders. So they will always remain on our radar as a threat, as a challenge,&#8221; PTI quoted Naravane as saying at a book launch event in New Delhi.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>However, he distinguished between the two, saying India&#8217;s immediate focus on Pakistan was driven largely by the continuing threat of terrorism, while describing China as a &#8220;competitor&#8221; rather than an &#8220;enemy.&#8221; <!-- -->He emphasised that he had &#8220;purposely&#8221; used the term &#8220;competitor&#8221; for China.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>&#8220;We have fought major wars with Pakistan, and because of their continued support to terrorism, our attention is towards our western borders. But I think we are very clear that in the long term and in the years to come, China is going to be our main competitor. And I purposely use the word competitor and not enemy,&#8221; Naravane said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>Naravane, who was Chief of Army Staff during the 2020 Ladakh clashes with China and led India&#8217;s response, further stated that the two countries would be competitors across multiple domains, including politics, economics, trade and military affairs.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>&#8220;They are going to be our main competitor in all fields. Political, economic, trade, and of course military also. And wherever there is competition, there is always a little bit of conflict,&#8221; the retired Army general observed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>He emphasised that India should seek to manage such differences through dialogue and diplomatic mechanisms rather than resorting to force.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"  \">\n<div class=\"LEzX4\">\n<div class=\"PmOGb\">\n<p class=\"PSf84\">Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Insightful<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Agree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Disagree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Skeptical<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Concerning<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Promising<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Worth Reading<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Big Development<\/button><\/p>\n<p><textarea class=\"T9MbS\" rows=\"1\" placeholder=\"Add your Thoughts...\"\/><button type=\"button\" class=\"ZW6JD \" disabled=\"\">Post Comment<\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"swnca\">Be respectful \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatimes.com\/termsandcondition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"gkv0P\">TOI community guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>&#8220;It is up to us to try to resolve those conflicts, those differences, through the mechanisms of talks, dialogues. <!-- -->And taking recourse to the use of force should always be the last priority,&#8221; he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>However, he also stressed that India must maintain credible military preparedness to deter any potential misadventure.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>&#8220;There comes a moment when you realise that this is not going to happen. And therefore, you have to have a strong deterrence. That is why the armed forces have to be ready at all times. You have to have a strong deterrence to stop anybody from taking recourse to the use of force or any misadventure,&#8221; he remarked.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/we-fought-wars-with-pakistan-too-but-china-will-be-indias-main-competitor-ex-army-chief\/articleshow\/133391827.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General MM Naravane (Retd) on China and Pakistan NEW DELHI: Former Army chief General MM Naravane (Retired) on Thursday described China as India&#8217;s &#8220;main competitor&#8221; in the years ahead, despite India having fought wars with both China and Pakistan.&#8220;Pakistan and China are a totally different ballgame. We have fought wars with both of them. We [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"General MM Naravane (Retd) on China and Pakistan NEW DELHI: Former Army chief General MM Naravane (Retired) on Thursday described China as India&#8217;s &#8220;main competitor&#8221; in the years ahead, despite India having fought wars with both China and Pakistan.&#8220;Pakistan and China are a totally different ballgame. We have fought wars with both of them. We [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/general-mm-naravane-retd-on-china-and-pakistan.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}