India Raises Defense Spending by 13% to Keep Pace With China
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India plans to increase total defense spending by 13 percent in the next financial year, as it seeks to modernize its armed forces to counter China’s military buildup and threats from traditional rivals.
Total expenditure on the armed services will rise to 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.4 billion) in the year starting April, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament as he delivered the budget, up from a revised 1.71 trillion rupees this fiscal year. India will allocate 796 billion rupees for weapons programs, a 20 percent increase from a year earlier. China said last month it will increase defense spending by 11.2 percent to $106.4 billion this year to meet its expanding commitments.