Union of India on Thursday inflated its defense spending by 21 per cent to $42.7 billion.
The latest increase is likely to upset Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India since independence in 1947. India is one of the world’s largest arms procurer and the recent hike would raise the total defense spending of India to 2.3 trillion Indian rupees .
Chidambaram addressing the Indian parliament said that “I assure the house that constraints will not come in the way of providing any additional requirement for the security of the nation, nor would funding to social sectors reduce.
India has also planned to buy 126 French Rafale fighter jets for $12 billion and is shopping for some 400 combat helicopters worth tens of millions of dollars, as well as artillery, drones and electronic warfare systems. India and Russia in 2010 agreed to jointly build 250 advanced stealth fighter jets worth $25 billion.
New Delhi is also commissioning a nuclear-powered submarine as well as a range of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles which can strike deep inside China.