That has nothing to do with my question of some Indian official supposedly being in denial that his country shares a border with China...? So idk why you quote me back without saying anything.
Anyways the Rafale thing was borne out of a (imho extremely questionable) need to have a fighter NOW. Even at the cost of not getting the Su57s, since Russia can't deliver them on a timely manner. Having to pay so much for them is objectively a L, but India simply had no choice. They don't have the ability to design their own 4.5gen, no one else would sell to them. So the French can price gouge the shit out of India.
The Rafale was needed to keep up with Pakistan, but it doesn't help at all against China, which has even begun to scale back on producing aircraft that are similar in performance to the Rafale, aircraft which are fully and easily manufactured en masse locally, at volumes even the French can't make for their own airforce.
Until India can manufacture by itself planes, missiles, engines comparable with J10/Rafale, India can not try to even begin to compete with China. If they're being realistic, they should focus on competing with Pakistan.
So I'm not disagreeing on avoiding overt competition, I'm just questioning if straight up denying the existence of a border is the smart thing to do by a senior official...