NEW DELHI: The Indian armed forces will need to respond to China's rapidly-expanding military might, especially its growing naval footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), within their budget limitations and other constraints, said Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday.

"We will have to watch China carefully," said the Navy chief, a day after Beijing released a white pape r titled "China's National Defence in the New Era". While China lashed out at the US and its strategic moves in the Indo-Pacific region, the white paper referred to India only in the passing, stressing that Beijing was striving to promote security and stability along the India-China border.

India, of course, can ill-afford to ignore Chinese naval inroads into the IOR after the People's Liberation Army ( PLA ) established its first overseas base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and continues to have naval turnaround facilities at Karachi. At any given time, China now has six to eight warships deployed in the region.

"It is not just the Chinese white paper; it has been said in the past also. Lot of resources have been shifted from other arms to the PLANavy obviously in line with their intention to become a global power. We have to watch it carefully and see how we can respond within our budget and the constraints that we have," said Admiral Singh, speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on shipbuilding.

On the budgetary constraints faced by his force, Admiral Singh said, "We require long-term fiscal support to build a Navy, that is the only way we can plan. And, this has been my constant refrain."

The Navy currently has around 140 warships and 220 aircraft, but many of them are slated for progressive retirement. With proper funding, the force hopes to become a 212-warship and 458-aircraft force by around 2030.

