Arms race in South Asia is a great worry. A study by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on international arms transfers has concluded that India is the world's largest recipient of arms while Pakistan and China occupy the third place. The volume of worldwide arms transfers in 2007-11, according to the study, was 24 per cent higher than in 2002-06 and the five largest arms importers during 2007-11 were all Asian states with India alone accounting for 10 percent of global arms imports. Pertinently, India on Friday increased its military spending by 17 per cent to $41 billion in the Union Budget 2012-13. Of this, $17.5 billion, a 15.7 per cent increase from last year’s capital allocation, has been earmarked for capital expenditure of the armed forces. The money will go towards new procurement of weapons and meeting the committed liability on account of earlier signed contracts. Even as India over the years has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, its widespread poverty continues to be a major challenge. The benefits of its growth story are yet to trickle down to the grassroots and a total social transformation is still a far cry. No wonder then, a substantial portion of India’s population earns less than two dollars a day and thousands commit suicide every year because of poverty. With a sizeable share of budgetary allocations going to defense, the education and healthcare have been neglected over the years. And, undoubtedly ignoring these sectors is not good for sustainability of growth story of India.  Besides, the arms race has significant implications for the regional peace. There has always been a tit-for-tat Pakistani response to India’s increase in defence budget, something that has the potential to exacerbate the strategic tensions in South Asia. Amid an atmosphere of bonhomie of late been seen developing between the two nuclear neighbours who have apparently set out for finding a durable peace in South Asia, one can hope this arms race coming to end soon.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST