At $76.6 billion, India is third highest military spender in world, says report

What is the News?

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) has released a report on global military spending in 2021.

What are the key findings of the report?

Largest Military Spenders: The five largest military spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia. These countries together account for 62% of expenditure.

Military Expenditure: The total global military expenditure increased by 0.7% in real terms in 2021 to reach an all-time high of $2.1 trillion.

India: India was the third-highest military spender in the world behind the US and China.

– India’s military spending amounting to $76.6 billion in 2021 grew by 0.9% from 2020 and by 33% from 2012. 

Reason for increase in India’s military spending: Amid ongoing tensions and border disputes with China and Pakistan that occasionally spill over into armed clashes. Similarly, India has prioritized the modernisation of its armed forces and self-reliance in arms production

– For instance, in a push to strengthen the indigenous arms industry, 64% of capital outlays in India’s defence budget for 2021 were earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced arms.

Source: This post is based on the article “At $76.6 billion, India is third-highest military spender in world, says report” published in The Hindu on 26th April 2022.