China President Xi Jinping. (Wikimedia Commons)According to a new report, India’s military expenditure is just one-fourth or around 25 per cent of China’s expenditure on its armed forces.
The US continues its reign at the top, with its military spending greater than the next eight countries combined.
According to the report published by the global think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017.
“The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the US ($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,” the report noted.
While India increased its military spending by 3.1 per cent to $66.5 billion in 2018, military expenditure by Pakistan grew by 11 per cent (the same level of growth as in 2017), to reach $11.4 billion in 2018.
“The tensions between countries in Asia as well as between China and the USA are major drivers for the continuing growth of military spending in the region,’ says Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme.
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