While India continues to be absorbed in its long-drawn elections, the rest of the world is moving ahead with its own priorities. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping undertook a comprehensive restructuring of his country's armed forces when he made a surprising decision to dissolve the Strategic Support Force (SSF), a military division he established in 2015 to merge various capabilities of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), including space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare. In its stead, Xi introduced the Information Support Force, which he described as "a fresh strategic component of the PLA and a crucial support for the coordinated advancement and utilisation of the network information system". As a result of this revised framework, the PLA now comprises four primary branches: the ground forces, naval forces, air forces, and the rocket forces. Additionally, there are now four auxiliary units: three divisions derived from the SSF, and the Joint Logistic Support Force.
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