Indian Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday claimed that the "Indian Army is fully ready for a two-and-a-half-front war," during an interview with Asian News International (ANI).

Rawat claimed that the country's army was prepared to handle internal and external fronts at the same time if it comes to that. However, he added that methods other than war are available for resolution of difficult situations.

"Even [Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi] has stated that for the last 40 years not even a single bullet has been fired on the Indo-China border," General Rawat claimed.

Rawat further told ANI that personnel were being recruited for a new strike corps, which is being raised for mountain warfare.

The 17 Strike Corps "is being raised from scratch. The recruitment is on. As it is, to prepare an army soldier it takes about three years from recruitment process to training, then orienting, and finally their deployment," ANI quoted the army chief as saying.

Speaking about plans for modernisation of the Indian Army, Rawat expressed his satisfaction over the Indian government's support and understanding of its army's needs.

"'Make In India' is a good initiative, it will give results in two to three years," said Rawat, referring to Modi's policy aimed at reaping the benefits that come from manufacturing facilities and jobs.

The Indian army chief further stated that an inventory ratio of 30:40:30 representing state-of-the-art technology, equipment undergoing modernisation, and obsolete equipment respectively, is maintained by armies across the globe.

He added that the Indian army's plans are not against any specific country.