ISLAMABAD – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to boost Indiandomestic defense production with his ‘Make inlink>link>Indialink>’ program.
However Indian Ministry of Defense data released in response to aparliamentary question has depicted it as a failed initiative as defenceproduction has declined since Modi took over.
Data show that procurement from Indian vendors has declined since 2014 –when PM Modi came to power — while procurement from foreign vendorsincreased. Overall equipment procurement also dipped, the data show.
link>link>Indialink> has joined the US and China as oneof the world’s five biggest military spenders, reflecting geopoliticaltensions as well as the country’s reliance on imported weapons andsprawling personnel costs.
New Delhi’s defense spending rose by 5.5 percent to $63.9 billion in 2017and has now passed France, the Stockholm International Peace ResearchInstitute said in a report released Wednesday.
Worldwide military spending rose marginally last year to $1.73 trillion, orroughly 2.2 percent of global gross domestic product, the group said. Thelist of the world’s biggest military spenders has remained consistent inrecent years, dominated by the U.S. and China, which spent $610 billion and$228 billion respectively, according to SIPRI, which researches global armsspending.
New Delhi’s defense spending rose by 5.5 percent to $63.9 billion in 2017.
However, the group said the balance of military spending is “clearlyshifting” toward Asia, Oceania and the Middle East, driven largely byspending increases in China, link>link>Indialink> and Saudi Arabia.
China spends far more on its military than any other power in Asia.
Arms procurement from foreign vendors increased slightly.
Beijing’s share of worldwide military expenditure rose to 13 percent in2017 from just 5.8 percent in 2008, according to SIPRI. The Chinesegovernment has increased spending 8.5 percent per year between 2007 and2016 and its leaders “seem committed to increases in defense spending forthe foreseeable future, even as China’s economic growth slows,” accordingto a U.S. Department of Defense report on China’s military.
In link>link>Indialink> ‘s case, however, increasedspending doesn’t mean the armed forces are deploying state-of-the-artequipment. The rise in defense spending mostly goes toward salaries andpensions for roughly 1.4 million serving personnel and more than 2 millionveterans, said Laxman Kumar Behera, a research fellow with New Delhi’sInstitute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
Only 14 percent goes toward military modernization compared to 63 percentfor salaries.
“Because so much money is consumed by manpower costs, there isn’t enoughleft over to buy equipment,” Behera said.
link>link>Indialink> ‘s own army echoes that sentiment.Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand told a parliamentarycommittee in March the current budget barely accounts for inflation and taxpayments. Only 14 percent goes toward military modernization compared to 63percent for salaries, Chand said.
SIPRI previously ranked link>link>Indialink> as the world’s largest armsimporter because its domestic defense manufacturing industry remainscurtailed by red tape, a reliance on state-owned defense companies andprocurement delays.