"Our present aircraft strength is inadequate. Aircraft strength isone third that of China," said Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik was quotedas saying by the CNN-IBN website Wednesday.
"The government of India is doing a lot to augment air force capability," he said in a speech in Gandhinagar, capital of India's western Gujarat state.
The comments come against the backdrop of media reports about Chinese army and air "incursions" into India in the past several weeks that have been denied by both New Delhi and Beijing.
The Asian giants and economic rivals have yet to agree on their morethan 4,000 kilometre (2,480 mile) border, the dispute over which datesback to a brief but bitter conflict in 1962 that exposed India'smilitary vulnerability.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 squaremiles) of its territory, while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometresor the wholeof the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Naik said there were two ways to counter China's reported incursions.
"One way is to take up weapons and go to the border. The other wayis to build systematic weapons capability to tackle the threat," hesaid.
Naik's remarks follow similar ones by former navychief Sureesh Mehta, who last month said India could not compete withChina on defence spending and warned Beijing was "creating formidablemilitary capabilities".
India has begun trials of the world's leading fighter jets as it prepares to place an order for 126 planes in a contract worth 12 billion dollars.
