{"id":3606,"date":"2023-02-01T14:51:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T14:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=3606"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:53:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:53:31","slug":"india-increases-defense-budget-to-72-6-billion-amid-tensions-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/analysis\/defense\/india-increases-defense-budget-to-72-6-billion-amid-tensions-with-china\/2023\/02\/01\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"India increases defense budget to $72.6 billion amid tensions with China"},"content":{"rendered":"
NEW<\/span> DELHI<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span> –<\/span> India<\/span> on<\/span> Wednesday<\/span> proposed<\/span> a<\/span> defense<\/span> budget<\/span> of<\/span> 5.94<\/span> trillion<\/span> rupees<\/span> ($72.6<\/span> billion)<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> fiscal<\/span> year<\/span> 2023-24.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Finance<\/span> Minister<\/span> Nirmala<\/span> Sitharaman<\/span> has<\/span> allocated<\/span> her<\/span> Rs<\/span> 1.63<\/span> trillion<\/span> for<\/span> defense<\/span> investment.<\/span> This<\/span> includes<\/span> new<\/span> weapons,<\/span> aircraft,<\/span> warships<\/span> and<\/span> other<\/span> military<\/span> hardware,<\/span> as<\/span> he<\/span> totals<\/span> nearly<\/span> $550<\/span> billion<\/span> in<\/span> federal<\/span> spending<\/span> from<\/span> 2023<\/span> to<\/span> 2024<\/span> in<\/span> his<\/span> annual<\/span> budget.<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span>She<\/span> said<\/span> Rs<\/span> 2.77<\/span> trillion<\/span> will<\/span> be<\/span> spent<\/span> on<\/span> military<\/span> salaries<\/span> and<\/span> benefits<\/span> in<\/span> 2023-24<\/span> and<\/span> Rs<\/span> 1.38<\/span> trillion<\/span> will<\/span> be<\/span> spent<\/span> on<\/span> veterans’<\/span> pensions<\/span> and<\/span> various<\/span> other<\/span> items.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Sitharaman<\/span> also<\/span> revised<\/span> the<\/span> defense<\/span> budget<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> current<\/span> fiscal<\/span> year<\/span> ending<\/span> March<\/span> to<\/span> her<\/span> Rs<\/span> 5.85<\/span> trillion<\/span> from<\/span> her<\/span> previous<\/span> estimate<\/span> of<\/span> Rs<\/span> 5.25<\/span> trillion.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> recent<\/span> years,<\/span> Prime<\/span> Minister<\/span> Narendra<\/span> Modi<\/span> has<\/span> emphasized<\/span> his<\/span> government’s<\/span> commitment<\/span> to<\/span> boosting<\/span> domestic<\/span> manufacturing<\/span> to<\/span> feed<\/span> the<\/span> forces<\/span> stationed<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> disputed<\/span> borders,<\/span> while<\/span> increasing<\/span> spending<\/span> on<\/span> modernizing<\/span> the<\/span> military.<\/span> I’m<\/span> here.<\/span> \u201cThe<\/span> government<\/span> has<\/span> tried<\/span> to<\/span> allocate<\/span> sufficient<\/span> funds<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> defense<\/span> forces<\/span> while<\/span> balancing<\/span> other<\/span> priorities<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> pre-election<\/span> budget,\u201d<\/span> he<\/span> said,<\/span> adding<\/span> that<\/span> tensions<\/span> with<\/span> China<\/span> have<\/span> risen<\/span> along<\/span> the<\/span> disputed<\/span> border.<\/span> He<\/span> pointed<\/span> out<\/span> that<\/span> India<\/span> needs<\/span> more<\/span> money.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>India’s<\/span> total<\/span> defense<\/span> budget,<\/span> estimated<\/span> at<\/span> about<\/span> 2%<\/span> of<\/span> GDP,<\/span> is<\/span> still<\/span> lower<\/span> than<\/span> China’s<\/span> 1.45<\/span> trillion<\/span> yuan<\/span> ($230<\/span> billion)<\/span> allocation<\/span> for<\/span> 2022.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“The<\/span> overall<\/span> increase<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> military’s<\/span> budget<\/span> is<\/span> as<\/span> expected,<\/span> but<\/span> likely<\/span> less<\/span> than<\/span> what<\/span> they<\/span> requested<\/span> to<\/span> bolster<\/span> operational<\/span> capabilities,”<\/span> said<\/span> Amit<\/span> Kaushish,<\/span> a<\/span> former<\/span> Pentagon<\/span> acquisition<\/span> financial<\/span> adviser.<\/span>\u00a0
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>According<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> latest<\/span> budget<\/span> document,<\/span> India<\/span> will<\/span> spend<\/span> about<\/span> 242<\/span> billion<\/span> rupees<\/span> (US$3<\/span> billion)<\/span> on<\/span> building<\/span> a<\/span> naval<\/span> fleet<\/span> and<\/span> he<\/span> plans<\/span> to<\/span> spend<\/span> 571.4<\/span> billion<\/span> rupees<\/span> (US$7<\/span> billion)<\/span> on<\/span> procuring<\/span> an<\/span> air<\/span> force,<\/span> including<\/span> more<\/span> aircraft.<\/span>\u00a0
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> South<\/span> Asian<\/span> giant<\/span> employs<\/span> 1.38<\/span> million<\/span> of<\/span> his<\/span> men<\/span> in<\/span> its<\/span> army,<\/span> many<\/span> of<\/span> which<\/span> are<\/span> stationed<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> borders<\/span> of<\/span> nuclear<\/span> rivals<\/span> China<\/span> and<\/span> Pakistan.<\/span> The<\/span> defense<\/span> budget<\/span> allocation<\/span> fell<\/span> short<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> military’s<\/span> expectations,<\/span> but<\/span> Behera<\/span> said<\/span> it<\/span> is<\/span> likely<\/span> to<\/span> increase<\/span> as<\/span> the<\/span> economy<\/span> recovers<\/span> from<\/span> two<\/span> years<\/span> of<\/span> pandemic<\/span> containment.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>India<\/span> and<\/span> China<\/span> share<\/span> her<\/span> 3,500-kilometer<\/span> border<\/span> that<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> disputed<\/span> since<\/span> the<\/span> 1950s.<\/span> In<\/span> 1962,<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> countries<\/span> went<\/span> to<\/span> war<\/span> over<\/span> the<\/span> issue.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>At<\/span> least<\/span> 24<\/span> soldiers<\/span> were<\/span> killed<\/span> when<\/span> the<\/span> Asian<\/span> giant’s<\/span> armies<\/span> clashed<\/span> in<\/span> Ladakh<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Western<\/span> Himalayas<\/span> in<\/span> 2020,<\/span> but<\/span> tensions<\/span> eased<\/span> after<\/span> military<\/span> and<\/span> diplomatic<\/span> talks.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> new<\/span> clash<\/span> broke<\/span> out<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> eastern<\/span> Himalayas<\/span> last<\/span> December,<\/span> but<\/span> no<\/span> deaths<\/span> were<\/span> reported.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India on Wednesday proposed a defense budget of 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) for the fiscal year 2023-24. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated her Rs 1.63 trillion for defense investment. This includes new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware, as he totals nearly $550 billion in federal spending from […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[26,24,276,2406,2407,2425],"tags":[57,942,943,944,945,946,947],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/INDO.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3609,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606\/revisions\/3609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}