The Scientific American Journal of Jan-2011 has displayed 2009 figures of budget allocation for science R&D as compared to defence R&D that shows the importance attached to these heads.
The Science R&D budget was 54.8 billion US $ while the defence R&D budget was 56.2 billion US $. It means that 8 percent of central defence budget of 685 billion US $ were allocated for the R&D.
This shows the USAs focus for the R&D in both the science and defence. This is the reason behind the US domination in the realm of knowledge and military power, each reinforcing the other.
Pakistan allocates about US 5 billions to total defence and US 380 million to entire science R&D with no figure for defence R&D. This shows our dismal ratio between the two heads of expenditure that makes us dependant on sophisticated weapons from abroad. The more we allocate to science R&D, the more we can become self-reliant in our defence capability.
MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
