New Delhi’s defense spending rose by 5.5 per cent to $63.9 billion in 2017 and has now passed France, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a report released Wednesday. Worldwide military spending rose marginally last year to $1.73 trillion, or roughly 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product, the group said. However, the group said the balance of military spending is “clearly shifting” toward Asia, Oceania and the Middle East, driven largely by spending increases in China, India and Saudi Arabia. Beijing’s share of worldwide military expenditure rose to 13 per cent in 2017 from just 5.8 per cent in 2008, according to SIPRI. In India’s case, however, increased spending doesn’t mean the armed forces are deploying state-of-the-art equipment.

Source: National Post May 02, 2018 14:15 UTC