India was the world’s fourth biggest military spender last year behind the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia, according to new data think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday. India was the fifth largest military spender in 2017.
France also figures on the list of top five spenders that together accounted for 60% of the global military spending in 2018, the think tank said.
The SIPRI report comes at a time when India is investing heavily in building its military capability with new fighter jets, warships, helicopters, artillery guns and infantry weapons.
According to the SIPRI data, China was the second-largest military spender last year. Beijing increased its military expenditure by 5% to $250 billion in 2018. It accounted for 14% of global military spending.
In contrast, India’s military spending went up by 3.1% to $66.5 billion. India accounts for 3.7% of the global defence spending.
The think tank said with military spending of $11.4 billion, Pakistan was at the 20th place on the list of the leading military spenders. Experts said that India’s military spending was insufficient against the backdrop of the challenges it faces in its neighbourhood.