India, a Nuclear Power, Raises Military Spending 28 Percent
With relations between bitter foes India and Pakistan at their worst point in three decades, New Delhi today announced a 28.2 percent increase in military spending, the largest single-year boost in the nation's history.
"We shall not shrink from making any sacrifice to guard and protect every inch of our beloved motherland," the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, said in presenting the country's annual budget to parliament.
The announcement comes less than three weeks before President Clinton is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on a mission that is at least partly intended to ease the strain between the world's two newest nuclear powers.
The big jump in military spending is no surprise. It has been expected since India fought intense battles with Pakistani-backed forces in the frigid mountains of Kashmir six months ago. The Indians drove off the invaders, but the incursion revealed weaknesses in the nation's defenses. The military complained that a decade of belt-tightening had left it without needed funds for basic supplies, surveillance equipment and upgraded weapons.
Since then, tensions have only grown worse. Pakistan's military overthrew the elected government in Islamabad. Guerrilla attacks have reached an epidemic level in Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for the hijacking of an Indian airliner on Christmas Eve.
The budget for the year beginning April 1 calls for tax increases on higher-income people, a review of state subsidies, and cuts in the government payroll.
"Yes, we are considering downsizing," Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told reporters today.
Cuts in personnel will not include the military, which will have an allowance of $13.5 billion. Nearly half the money will go to the army. It is unclear how much will be devoted to nuclear weapons.
"Going nuclear hasn't done much for India's security, has it?" said P.R. Chari, director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi. "The country seems to be moving in several directions all at once."
But others see a bigger military budget as an overdue payment. "India has a one million-man army, a two-fleet navy and a 35 combat-squadron air force, and that takes money," said Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
In 1990, when India was experiencing a financial crisis, the military budget was cut back as a percentage of the gross domestic product, Mr. Bhaskar said. The decline continued throughout the decade. Last summer's fighting in Kashmir was a wake-up call.
"All that's happening now is that we're catching up," he said.
With relations between bitter foes India and Pakistan at their worst point in three decades, New Delhi today announced a 28.2 percent increase in military spending, the largest single-year boost in the nation's history.
"We shall not shrink from making any sacrifice to guard and protect every inch of our beloved motherland," the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, said in presenting the country's annual budget to parliament.
The announcement comes less than three weeks before President Clinton is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on a mission that is at least partly intended to ease the strain between the world's two newest nuclear powers.
The big jump in military spending is no surprise. It has been expected since India fought intense battles with Pakistani-backed forces in the frigid mountains of Kashmir six months ago. The Indians drove off the invaders, but the incursion revealed weaknesses in the nation's defenses. The military complained that a decade of belt-tightening had left it without needed funds for basic supplies, surveillance equipment and upgraded weapons.
Since then, tensions have only grown worse. Pakistan's military overthrew the elected government in Islamabad. Guerrilla attacks have reached an epidemic level in Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for the hijacking of an Indian airliner on Christmas Eve.
The budget for the year beginning April 1 calls for tax increases on higher-income people, a review of state subsidies, and cuts in the government payroll.
"Yes, we are considering downsizing," Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told reporters today.
Cuts in personnel will not include the military, which will have an allowance of $13.5 billion. Nearly half the money will go to the army. It is unclear how much will be devoted to nuclear weapons.
"Going nuclear hasn't done much for India's security, has it?" said P.R. Chari, director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi. "The country seems to be moving in several directions all at once."
But others see a bigger military budget as an overdue payment. "India has a one million-man army, a two-fleet navy and a 35 combat-squadron air force, and that takes money," said Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
In 1990, when India was experiencing a financial crisis, the military budget was cut back as a percentage of the gross domestic product, Mr. Bhaskar said. The decline continued throughout the decade. Last summer's fighting in Kashmir was a wake-up call.
"All that's happening now is that we're catching up," he said.
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