Salam


Pakistan raises defence spending to $4.53 bln
Sat Jun 9, 2007 8:42 PM IST160

By Augustine Anthony

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan announced a 9 percent increase in its defence spending on Saturday to 275 billion rupees ($4.53 billion) for the 2007/08 fiscal year beginning in July.

The proposed spending compares with 252 billion rupees spent on defence in this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and amounts to about 3 percent of gross domestic product.

"Impregnable defence is indispensable for a nation which wants to live with honour and dignity," Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan said in his budget speech to parliament.

"Pakistan is a nuclear power. If any one looks at us with bad motive, we will respond with full force."

Pakistan has fought three wars with arch rival India since their independence from British rule in 1947, and they nearly went to war a fourth time in 2002. But relations have improved since they launched a peace process in 2004.

Despite the thaw in ties, the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have continued to focus on their military build-up.

In February, India raised its defence spending 7.8 percent to nearly $22 billion for 2007/08.

Khan said peace could only be achieved by making defences invincible.

The planned defence spending is in addition to military aid Pakistan is getting from the United States for its role as a front-line state in the war against terrorism.

In the past six years, Pakistan has received an estimated $10 billion of assistance from Washington, much of it in the form of military aid.

In October, Pakistan and the United States agreed on a multi-billion dollar package to supply the Pakistani air force with 18 new F-16 aircraft.

The deal also covers supply of an unspecified number of upgraded, second-hand F-16s.

The budget announced on Saturday has to be approved by parliament. The government is unlikely to face any obstacle as it holds a simple majority needed for the bill's passage.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Well its gud we increase da spending and also keep facilitating our poors InshAllah..anywayz plz post da budgets stats as soon as it is released ...

Allah Hafiz

P.S here is da defence...!!

Development spending double then defence spending..no need to cry on defence spending

development spending=524 Billion RS

defence= 275 billion RS

there was a time in this histroy of Pakistan when our total budget was 100 billion RS..

Include American and international assistance, our overall defence expenditure nears $6bn. As long as the economy somehow manages to grow and sustain, hopefully by 2010-2012 we'll near double digits.

MASHALLAH i just hope the progress continues.


SPEEDY
enjoy

The good news is that despite increasing defence budget it's overall share of GDP has come down to 3.1% compared to 5% 7 years ago.

salam

well.. yar wht can we say .... i mean whr will dis money go atleast we r making sum golf courses and feeding our poor ..da stinking neighbour wid us is only giving da money 2 russkies and protecting da poor by cutting dere stomach's...anywayz dis z off topic ..so wht do u think if u were in charge of dis money wht wud u do...

Allah Hafiz

that was the time when rupee had a buying power and was being traded 8 rupee to a dollar, i remember that

9% isn't really enough. With instability beyond our borders we need to increase our defence expenditure immensley. Pakistan needs to invest heavily in research and development and indiginous manufacturing. We need to spend more on military technology education and perhap set specialist centres within the armed forces.

i personally think pakistan defence budget is more than 6 billion. i mean they got a huge neighbour indian and their budget is 3 4 times more.pakistan does get discount weaponary from china and i think saudi arabi n uae must give some money to pakistan etc.wel they do invest heavily in pakistan.it must be secret i think.some people say paksitan should increase their budget rapiddly but i dont think they can do that.there be too much international pressure and india will do the same etc.so it best not to declare.i think every country does not declare the actual budget.

I agree fully. Arab nations that want to form some sort of security pact with Pakistan should also invest in defense. It may already be happening behind closed doors as you rightfully pointed out. It wouldn’t surprise me in any way. That will not only bolster Pakistan’s security interests but also of those ME countries. ME countries should also invest in Chinese ventures such as J-XX etc. They can’t rely on US or Western mercy forever. Got to have some reliable defense supplier like China. In that way China will also be able to accelerate and produce more quality military hardware in shorter time. Imagine the prospects of Arab states, Pakistan and China joining hands...

I agree bruv, but the American assistance is only short term and as we all know by now attached with a zillion strings. Hell as long as American assistance comes in its more than welcome. We should all by now be familar with the cut and run strategy of the US. When their objectives and interests are met they leave everyone high and dry. Besides, the US has made their intentions clear about their new relationship with the Indians. In the longer run it would be wise to form some sort of pact with the Arabs in combi with the Chinese. This nexus will be reliable and fruitful for all. We mustn’t forget the bigger picture here. I hope you agree.