- According to the latest data released by global think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), the total world military expenditure rose by 2.6% to $1,822 billion in 2018.
- The US is the world’s largest spender on defence, with a military expenditure almost equal to the next eight countries combined.
- The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the United States ($649 billion), China ($250 billion), Saudi Arabia ($67.6 billion), India ($66.5 billion) and France ($63.8 billion), which together accounted for 60% of the global military spending.
- Though Sipri doesn’t go into details, the $66.5 billion (Rs 4.6 lakh crore) military expenditure figure for India includes defence pensions, which amount to one-fourth of the total. Of the remaining, two-thirds go in for day-to-day running costs, salaries and the like for maintaining the almost 15-lakh strong armed forces. This leaves just about one-fourth of the $66.5 billion figure for military modernisation and new weapon systems. So, despite India being the world’s fourth largest spender by displacing even Russia ($61.4 billion), its armed forces continue to suffer from critical shortages on several fronts.
- As per the report data, China’s military expenditure is almost four times that of India, with the latter’s armed forces also getting hobbled by a ballooning revenue expenditure and pension bill.
