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NEW DELHI: India announced a double-digit increase in its annual defence budget Wednesday with an eye on its increasingly assertive geopolitical rival China, with which it shares a tense and disputed northern border.

New Delhi – already the world’s third-biggest military spender according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – will increase its expenditure to $73 billion, a 13 percent rise, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament in her budget announcement.

Relations between the world’s two most populous countries are strained over border, trade and technology disputes, and India has tried to decouple itself from Chinese supply chains since a deadly frontier military clash in Ladakh in 2020.

India to ramp up spending, cut deficit in last full budget ahead of 2024 vote

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been building up its military, including its border defences and armaments industry, with a nuclear-powered submarine of its own, and also unveiled its first locally made aircraft carrier last year – milestones Beijing passed years ago.

India still relies on longstanding partner Russia for most of its arms imports – other suppliers include the US, France and Israel – and Sitharaman told parliament the government was committed to promoting self-reliance in military equipment.

Domestic procurement would go up by 10 percentage points to 68 percent, she added.

The allocation to defence is more than 13 percent of the total government budget, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.

India has also become increasingly assertive in its efforts with multilateral groupings such as the so-called Quad.

India joins Japan, Australia and the United States in the alliance, which is a grouping of regional powers increasingly concerned about China’s military and economic influence.

The country participated in its first joint fighter jet exercise with Japan in January as the two countries – which both count China as a neighbour – upgrade defence and security ties.

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TimeToMovveOn Feb 01, 2023 07:53pm
The above is a picture of the Finance Minister of India. She is from my home town chennai. She was pictured just walking on the road to buy vegetables from a street vendor--FM of the world fifth largest economy. There are many things that are not right with India, but Pakistan can learn something that is also good about India.
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HashBrown® Feb 02, 2023 12:48am
@TimeToMovveOn, "There are many things that are not right with India, but Pakistan can learn something that is also good about India." Oooh, absolutely. Firstly we'd like to learn how to have so many billionaires while two thirds of your country has no functioning sanitation. After that we'd love to learn how to export untested vaccines to Africa while your own failed healthcare infrastructure turns you into a global pandemic epicenter. Then - and this is my favourite - we'd love to learn how to boast about our democratic credentials while your PM is a known war criminal, and the overwhelming majority of your country is still governed by a caste system. Pakistan is in desperate need of reform on multiple fronts, but Hindustan is the one place where there are precious few lessons for anyone to learn.
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Zubair Feb 02, 2023 04:10am
Increasing defense budget and imposing an economic warfare against Pakistan! What Pakistani generals are doing? They ought to ponder over Indian designs rather than indulging in domestic politics! Hold elections and let county move forward!
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TimeToMovveOn Feb 02, 2023 04:21am
@HashBrown®, I dont know where you get your facts, probably form ISPR presser. The day Pakistanis learn to love their own country more than their hatred for India, maybe, maybe, the country has a chance. 'Pakistan is in desperate need of reform on multiple fronts, but Hindustan is the one place where there are precious few lessons for anyone to learn." Unfortunately, the world over, other than Pakistan, the view is different
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TimeToMovveOn Feb 02, 2023 05:14am
@Zubair, India is not waging economic warfare against Pakistan, it is simply doing what it is supposed to do -- improve the economy of the people. India or any other country does not need to do any design for Pakistan's downfall. The politicians, mullas, military, and the elite are already doing an excellent job bringing pakistan down. We just have to wait and watch.
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HashBrown® Feb 02, 2023 06:57am
@TimeToMovveOn, "The day Pakistanis learn to love their own country more than their hatred for India, maybe, maybe, the country has a chance. " The fact that you copy and paste this same nonsense in each post, regardless of context, suggests that like most Hindustanis you get most of your news sent to you by whatsapp and simply forward it on to others. But thank you for legitimising my comments by failing to offer anything substantial as a response.
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HashBrown® Feb 02, 2023 07:01am
@TimeToMovveOn, "Unfortunately, the world over, other than Pakistan, the view is different" I'm sure your Bollywood films have convinced you that the rest of the world is queuing up to learn lessons about good governance and civil liberties from Hindustan...but in the real world you're just a third world orphan whom the west has adopted in its designs against China. It's actually pretty common knowledge.
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Aqeel Feb 02, 2023 08:13am
"India joins Japan, Australia and the United States in the alliance, which is a grouping of regional powers increasingly concerned about China’s military and economic influence." More trouble for Pakistan!
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Usman Feb 02, 2023 08:27am
@HashBrown®, No one is asking to learn bad things from them but we should learn from their good things. Nothing wrong with it. Its for our own benefit.
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HashBrown® Feb 02, 2023 04:49pm
@Usman, "Nothing wrong with it. Its for our own benefit." Brother there are lessons Pakistan desperately needs to learn from other countries, there's no doubt about that. The UK has a democratic tradition going back 800 years, and politicians respect each other even during debates - Pakistan could learn from that. In Bolivia, the president has slashed his own pay and the pay of his cabinet by 50% - Pakistan could learn from that. In Turkey, Erdogan has asserted the supremacy of civilian rule by firing some of the senior most officers in the armed forces - Pakistan could learn from that. The question is, what can we learn from a country that votes in war criminals and sits even lower than us on the global hunger index?
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TimeToMovveOn Feb 02, 2023 06:11pm
@Usman, Just leave HashBrown alone. We love more people like him in Pakistan. A lot more. As someone said, bankrupt mind, bankrupt country. He represents that. His goal is to reject anything Indian and thats fine. I and many other Indians believe that there is something India can learn from Pakistan, China, Bangaldesh, USA, UK, and Bolivia. We will march ahead with that mind set.
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HashBrown® Feb 02, 2023 08:33pm
@TimeToMovveOn, "We love more people like him in Pakistan." Don't lose sleep over people like me, sweetheart - lose sleep over the ones who shoot down your aircraft and capture your pilots whenever you try raiding our airspace. As long as they're still living and breathing, your Akhand Bharat fantasy will remain on hold indefinitely.
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