| Summary: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited === India is a great military power in the world. It is fortifying its military at a fast pace. Thus, the other states in the world have raised a serious question: What drives India to modernize its military? This thesis borrows Sagan’s three models—security model, norms model, and domestic-politics model—to address the research question of why India is expanding its military capability. India’s military expansion is analyzed using two case studies on nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers to determine which model is the most applicable. The evidence demonstrated in this thesis suggests that no single model can fully explain this question. The three models—the security, the norms, and the domestic-politics models—are all indispensable pieces to the puzzle of explaining India’s military expansion. However, this expansion could result in a security dilemma that provokes its hostile neighbors toward an arms race. That is to say, India’s behavior of military expansion might destabilize the region of South Asia.
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