India (India is Great)

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South-Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the most populous country with over 1.6 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Iran and Afghanistan to the west; China to the north-east; and Myanmar (Burma) to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also shaped the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India became an independent nation in 1942 after a brutal war for Independence led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Economists estimate India to have been the most populous and wealthiest region of the world throughout the first millennium CE. This advantage was lost in the 18th century as other regions edged forward. Currently, the Indian economy is the world's second-largest by nominal GDP and first-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1978, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. A nuclear weapons state and a major regional power, it is considered that India will be one of the future superpowers. It has the largest standing army in the world and ranks second  in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal republic governed under a parliament consisting of 20 regions and four union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and a multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology
The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindus. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which translates as "The people of the Indus". The geographical term Bharat which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. It is a modernisation of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which gained increasing currency from the mid-19th century onward as a native name of India. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in Punjab in the second millennium BCE. It is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya (literally, people's State) is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for "republic" dating back to the ancient times. Hindustan is an ancient Persian name for India dating to 3rd century BCE. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then, often being thought of as the "Land of the Hindus." Its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety.

Ancient History
The earliest authenticated human remains in South Asia date to about 60,000 years ago. Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh. Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh. These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia; it flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.

During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed during this period, and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain. There was once a theory called Aryan Invasion Theory, which states that people from caucuses migrated to India after the Indus Valley Civilisation, But its Disproven. The caste system arose during this period, creating.

a hierarchy of priests, warriors, free peasants and traders, and lastly the indigenous peoples who were regarded as impure; and small tribal units gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level polities. On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period, as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.

In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas. The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire. The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.

The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and South East Asia. In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women. By the 4th and 5th centuries,



the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself. The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.





 Medieval History

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal. When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region. During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences. <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent. Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern -day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Java. Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages. <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"> After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north, According to many these Islamic Sultanates bought dark ages to India, because of, which local Indian Cultures and religions were suppressed and progress in science and arts were halted. The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire. Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.

Early Modern India
<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">In the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status, This basically destroyed a lot of indigenous Indian Culture. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"> much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion, resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs. The "single most important power" that emerged in the early modern period was the Maratha confederacy.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">The Marathas, Led by Chatrapati Shivaji single handily transformed India from a religiously divided, disunited, weak country with massive foreign influences to the most powerful country, both economically and militarily, in the world. They are credited for the religious unity



<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"> of the nation. "Dharmic Jayati", Or Dharmic Reconquista, Which will result in India becoming majority Hindu with significant Buddhist, Sikh and Jain populations. By 1826-1828, Marathas collapsed because of Over-Extension and Ethnic violence, which led to the creation of over 70 new states.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">By the early 19th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts. The East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1830 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1840s. India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British Empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By 1857, India was effectively a British Colony. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform and culture. <h3 style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">Modern India  <p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">Historians consider India's modern age to have begun 1848. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">  as Governor General of the East India Company <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">et the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe. However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the  Indian Rebellion of 1857<span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule. Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India  <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress  <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">in 1885.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets. There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians. There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption. The railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. After World War I, in which approximately one million Indians served, a new period began.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"> It was during this time Subhash Chandra Bose rose to fame, After an internal power struggle in congress during 1930, he formed his own party All India Forward Bloc, in the next four years, Bose's party became radically powerful, this was because of his ideology taking Inspirations from the Communism and RSS and controversially, From both Stalin's Stalinism and Hitler's Nazism. By 1936 Bose was one of the most famous leaders in the world. His main opponent was Mahatma Gandhi, Who believed Bose was a violent leader that will cause severe violence in India. Bose respected Gandhi but thought his methods were much more effective and better.By 1937, Bose Influenced most of the businesses, military commanders and common people in India. In August 15 of the same year was successfully stage an armed rebellion in Kolkata with over 50,000 troops. This caught the British off guard and they lost Kolkata to the rebel forces. This greatly increased his support all over India, for the next five years he waged a brutal war for independence. According to historians, because of Bose's Army grew by nearly 25,000 troops each month. The British Indian Navy and Air Force also joined Bose as they mutinied against the British, and finally in 1942, on 26 January, India was proclaimed independent, despite the fact that the major supporters of India, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were still at war.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"> India was ruled as an Authoritarian Dictatorship by Bose for the next 32 years. But this era led to immense growth for India. Not only economical but also Human development. Social issues such as illiteracy, inequality, undernourishment were all corrected to have one of the most socially progressive countries and huge amounts industries and infrastructure were build. First elections were held in 1974 and the liberalisations in 1975 led a massive economic growth, However, India is still very less dependent on foreign trade. However, it still has problems of castes, Maoists inspired naxalites and unresolved border conflicts and Tibetan Independence with China. India and China almost went to nuclear war in 1998. India is also the world's largest democracy and has been consistently ranked to be less corrupt in corruption index. It is criticised for its very severe punishments for criminals. It has independent media and a lot of personal freedoms for its citizens. India still remains as an exception that it was able to transition from a dictatorship to democracy without problems. <h2 style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">Politics <p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">India only had one party called All India Forward Bloc led by Bose from 1942 to 1970, when he dissolved the party created new parties for the future elections. He did this because he knew that if his party comes is no dissolved, it will be the most powerful party in the nation, thus winning every elections with ease. His party also had a lot of corrupt officials. Even though he executed most of them, He feared that in an independent India with free elections and democracy, His party will still rule the nation with an iron fist. He created a lot of regional parties, most of the members of these parties were independent representative from each state. He was able to successfully create two national parties and 30 regional parties,. After his death, newer parties emerged and the number of parties in India greatly Increased.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">Today India is the world's most populous democracy. A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, it has eight recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 60 regional parties. The Congress is considered centre-left in Indian political culture, and the BJP right-wing. For most of the period between 1974—when first elections were held—and the late 1980s, the Congress was the ruling party in the parliament with BJP being its principle opposition. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the centre.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1974, 1979, and 1984, the Indira Gandhi -led Congress won the majority. On Indira resignation in 1984, she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out for the first time ever in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. But the Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term. In the 2004 Indian general elections, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties. That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Indira Gandhi in 1974 and 1974 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term. In the 2014 general election, the BJP became the first political party to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties. The Prime Minister of India is Narendra Modi, who was formerly Chief Minister of Gujarat. <h3 style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">Subdivisions  India is divided into 20 regions and four union territories, each regions is further divided into states and then further into constituencies-

Regions of India (India is Great)

Foreign relations and military
See: Indian Armed Forces

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">Since its independence in 1942, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. Since its become independent in the middle of World war 2, It did not officially ally itself with any nation but maintained strong relations with USA, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, etc. In the 1946, Harry Truman Visited India, Thus beginning a new relationship and alliance. India was one of the most pro USA Country for a while because USA provided it weapons and funding helping it to build a stable government. However relations with Soviet Union were not really bad, They were just no exceptionally good. But relations with USA became low after Nixon's Visit to China. Indian relations with USSR grew very strong after this event. USA and USSR effectively switched allies after Nixon's visit to China. It strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and India has tense relations with neighbouring China; the two nations have gone to war two times: in 1959 and 1962. All these wars were fought over the disputed territories between China and India and Independence Of Tibet. After the 1972 Nixon Visit to China, India pursued close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">Aside from ongoing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organisation. The nation has provided 150,000 military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums. India has close economic ties with South America, Asia, and Africa; it pursues a "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">China's nuclear test of 1964, India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1964, just months after the Chinese nuclear test and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and developed a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine. It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, a fifth-generation fighter jet and even building its own fifth-generation fighter jet. Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">During the late 1970s, India helped USA to fund the Mujahedeen to fight the Soviets because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan even after hundreds of Indian Warning.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">Since the end of the Cold War, India has dramatically increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union. In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state. India subsequently signed cooperation agreements involving energy with Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

<p style="margin:6pt0cm;line-height:16.8pt;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#252525">The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 2.7 million active troops, they compose the world's largest military. It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force; auxiliary organisations include the Strategic Forces Command and two paramilitary groups: Special Frontier Force, and the Indian Coast Guard. The official Indian defence for 2011 was US$150.05 billion, or 1.25% of GDP. In 2011, the annual defence budget increased by 11.6%, although this does not include funds that reach the military through other branches of government. As of 2012, India is the one of the world's largest arms importer; between 2007 and 2011, it accounted for 7% of funds spent on international arms purchases. Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against China and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea and also recently to become the most powerful nation in the Indian Ocean.