India views China as its “primary adversary” and Pakistan more an “ancillary” security problem to be “managed”, despite cross-border attacks in mid-May by both India’s and Pakistan’s militaries, while Pakistan regards India as an “existential” threat, the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) said in its Worldwide Threat Assessment 2025 report.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s defence priorities will probably focus on demonstrating global leadership, countering China, and enhancing New Delhi’s military power,” the recently released report said.
On Pakistan, the report said it would continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India’s conventional military advantage. Pakistan was modernising its nuclear arsenal and “almost certainly” procured WMD-applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries, it stated.
Pahalgam terror attack
Taking note of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 and India’s strikes on terror infrastructure under Operation Sindoor and the military confrontation over the next three days, the U.S. DIA said that to counter Chinese influence and boost its global leadership role, India was giving priority to advancing its bilateral defence partnerships in the Indian Ocean region through exercises, training, arms sales, and information sharing.
“India also has increased trilateral engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and actively participates in multilateral fora such as the Quadrilateral, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN),” it added.
On India’s relations with Russia, the U.S. DIA remarked that India would maintain its relationship through 2025 because “it views its ties to Russia as important for achieving its economic and defence objectives and sees value in the relationship as a means to offset deepening Russia-China relations.”
“Under Mr. Modi, India has reduced its procurement of Russian-origin military equipment but still relies on Russian spare parts to maintain and sustain its large inventory of Russian-origin tanks and fighter aircraft that form the backbone of its military’s ability to counter perceived threats from China and Pakistan,” the report stated.
India almost certainly would continue promoting its “Made in India” initiative this year to build its domestic defence industry, mitigate supply chain concerns, and modernise its military, the report said. It said India continued to modernise its military in 2024 — a test of the nuclear-capable developmental Agni-I Prime Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) and the Agni-V multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, while also commissioning its second nuclear-powered submarine to strengthen its nuclear triad and “bolster its ability” to deter adversaries.
Referring to the agreement between India and China in October 2024 for disengagement from Depsang and Demchok, the report noted that the disengagement did not resolve the longstanding dispute about border demarcation but reduced some tension still lingering from a 2020 incident when troops on both sides were killed in a clash along the Line of Actual Control.
Published – May 25, 2025 09:53 pm IST
