Its simple, India have boasted to everyone that it is first-rate military power. So we should judge them based those standards. Had India instead humbly considered itself a second-rate military power, then they shouldn't be judged that harshly.
I remembered a few years ago, a Jai Hind poster on this forum declared that Aero India is much better than the Zhuhai Airshow because numerous foreign companies are participating, while in Zhuhai, only Chinese companies are participating. My argument is that this shows the relative place of both India and China. In Aero India, foreign guests are more interested to sell their arms to India. While in Zhuhai, foreign guests are more interested to study or buy Chinese arms. Hence, India is much more comparable to Saudi Arabia than to China, Russia, or the US.
