India Cuts Back Arms Spending, China Gets Stronger


Bangalore: In a worrisome revelation, it was found that India’s military spending fell by $ 1.9 billion (3.9 percent) in 2011 while our close neighbor and a strategic enemy, China has increased it “markedly.” Apart from China and Russia, the U.S. and European countries have been forced to cut down on their increase in military spending between 1998 and 2010 due to the economic crisis. Russia increased its military spending by 9.3 per cent in 2011.

“Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania rose by 2.4 per cent, due mostly to a 6.7 per cent ($8.2 billion) increase by China,” revealed the latest report by an independent think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

China’s official defence budget - 598 billion Yuan ($93 billion) - in 2011 does not include all financial resources for the military, the report says. China has increased its military spending by 170 percent in real terms since 2002, and by more than 500 percent since 1995. According to SIPRI’s estimate, Chinese military spending in 2011 was 923 billion Yuan Remnimbi ($143 billion), the second highest in the world. At the same time, China’s military spending has remained extremely stable as a share of GDP, at approximately 2 per cent since 2001.