New Delhi: India has overtaken Russia to be among the world’s top-four military spenders in 2018, according to a global think-tank, which has attributed the rise in defence expenditure to tensions with China and Pakistan.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report stated that India’s defence spending rose by 3.1 per cent to $66.5 billion. The United States, China and Saudi Arabia were the top three defence spenders of 2018, followed by India and France. In 2017, India was at the fifth spot. Russia, which occupied the fourth position in 2017, has fallen out of the top five bracket for the first time in 12 years and is now sixth.
Pakistan is on the 20th spot in the list of 40 countries, as per the SIPRI report.
The top five countries accounted for 60 per cent of global military spending, the report said. The top 15 countries in the list spent $1,470 billion in 2018, and accounted for 81 per cent of the global military expenditure, it added.
US military spending rose for first time in 7 years
As per the SIPRI report, while the US has the highest share of the world’s military expenditure at 36 per cent, its military spending rose for the first time in seven years to $649 billion in 2018.
The report said China increased its military expenditure by 5.0 per cent and India by 3.1 per cent. Saudi Arabia decreased its military spending by 6.5 per cent, France by 1.4 per cent and Russia by 3.5 per cent.
The global military expenditure was $1,822 billion in 2018, an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017 in real terms.
Also read: India slipped further behind China under Modi govt
29% growth in a decade
India’s military expenditure has risen by 29 per cent over the decade between 2009 and 2018.
“At $66.5 billion, India’s spending was 29 per cent higher than in 2009. Despite this rise, India’s military burden in 2018 was at one of its lowest levels since the early 1960s: 2.4 per cent of GDP compared with 2.9 per cent in 2009,” the report said.
The report explained that a country’s military expenditure as a share of GDP or the military burden is the simplest measure of the relative economic burden the military places on that country.
Pakistan’s position
“Pakistan’s military spending in 2018 was $11.4 billion, making it the 20th largest spender globally,” the report stated, adding that its military spending has increased every year since 2009.
“It rose by 73 per cent between 2009 and 2018 and by 11 per cent between 2017 and 2018. Pakistan’s military burden in 2018 was 4.0 per cent of GDP — the highest level since 2004,” the report added.
Also read: China defence spending set to rise by 7.5% as Xi scales up military
Saudi Arabia
The report said after an increase of 72 per cent between 2009 and 2015, when Saudi Arabia’s military expenditure reached its peak, the country’s defence spending dropped by 28 per cent in 2016 due to falling oil prices that led to a decline in government revenue.
The report said Saudi Arabia’s military spending increased by 11 per cent in 2017, but decreased by 6.5 per cent in 2018. “The fall in 2018 occurred despite Saudi Arabia’s high levels of arms imports and the continuation of its military intervention in Yemen,” it added.
whatever money we have for our defence is not well spent and not in a productive manner.
we lack a vision for a modern military which is capable of every domain including cyber and space.
our defence industrial complex is very weak. unless we have a strong military industrial base we can not secure ourselves.
Restructuring our armed forces for the future is the need of the hour and we as a country are heedless about looming challenges around us.
we have to rethink and restrategize our policy for the future.
the outdated policy which is currently under progress will serve no purpose for an India which has global aspirations.
We want a stable and prosperous India and without the help of our military forces the goal of becoming a superpower and a powerful nation on the planet cannot be achieved instead of criticism of our defence budget we should remember that our country is at a constant threat from our neighbours who have a dream of eliminating our country so we should indeed increase our defence budget and modernise our equipments and warfare.
Remember there’s an old saying which says the might is right.
Is there any glory to be gained from this ranking? Have we not gone astray in wanting to do the same as others and seeking at all costs to be recognized as a great power? Yes our environment is special. But what is the gain from the adopted military posture? Maybe one day we should agree to be ourselves, to accept our past as it is ,to integrate it without omission. So maybe we will retain our ideals
At the peak of its power and influence, the Soviet Union was a superpower, facing the United States one on one through mutual assured destruction, and in virtually every part of the world, starting with the continent of Europe. India is a status quo power. Once nuclear deterrence against China and Pakistan has been achieved, supplemented with conventional capabilities, no need to get carried away. At our level of per capita income and given where our HDI scores stand, notably in the Hindi heartland, we are spending – at close to $ 70 billion – way too much on defence. Such immense budgets create their own constituencies.
And yet, relations with both important neighbours are more uncertain than they have been in a very long time. Indian diplomacy requires a substantial overhaul.
Request some suggestions on the overhaul you mention. Chinese relations have clocked an uptick post declaration of Masood as global terrorist. Pakistan is beyond repair till we have INC in existence in India.