India has been looking to boost its military capabilities

What will happen if India and China go to war over the boundary dispute? 72 per cent of Indians polled in the India Today-Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey are confident that the Indian military can win against China's.

When respondents were asked: "How would you compare India's military capabilities versus China's?", 72 per cent of those polled said "India can win against China"; 9 per cent answered "we cannot defeat China"; 10 per cent believe the dispute will end in a stalemate, while 9 per cent could not form any conclusive view.


The intensifying India-China border tensions have strained diplomatic, military and trade relationships between the two countries. The dispute escalated after a violent clash broke out between the Indian and the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on June 15 this year. 20 Indian Army personnel including a commanding officer (CO) were killed in the fierce clash. Currently, Corps Commander-level talks are on to review the de-escalation strategy at disputed regions including the Pangong Tso Lake.

Indian has been looking to boost its military capabilities. Recently, the country welcomed five Rafale fighter jets that are expected to be a "game-changer" for the Indian Air Force. The first batch of five Rafale fighter aircraft arrived at the Ambala airbase on July 28. It's not clear if these jets will be deployed in the Ladakh region amid the growing tensions with China.

Meanwhile, India has garnered support from several countries including the US and Japan and Australia. According to a report, experts believe that India-China border tensions may boost India-US relations.

The Methodology

The MOTN poll was conducted by a Delhi-based market research agency between July 15, 2020, and July 27, 2020.

This poll has traditionally been conducted using face-to-face interviewing method. However, in this edition of the survey, due to the unprecedented situation arising out of Covid-19 pandemic, all interviews were conducted telephonically using a standard structured questionnaire, which was translated into regional languages.

A total of 12,021 interviews were conducted -- 67 per cent in rural and 33 per cent in urban areas -- spread across 97 parliamentary constituencies and 194 assembly constituencies in 19 states -- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In each of the assembly constituencies, a fixed number of interviews were done.

The fieldwork for the MOTN poll was conducted under the supervision of Ranjit Chib, Chairman of Karvy Insights. He was assisted by Associate Vice-President Debashis Chatterjee and Assistant Manager Sonal Talwar.