Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the budget on February 1, on which the eyes of the entire country are fixed. Every sector of the country has some expectations regarding the budget. It is being speculated that there may be some big announcements regarding the defense sector in the budget.
It is necessary to strengthen the army amid increasing challenges.
Global instability remains a matter of concern at this time. On one hand, the war is going on between Russia and Ukraine, disputes between Israel and Hamas are also making headlines, while on the other hand, there is an atmosphere of tension on the borders of India. Due to this, there has been an increase in expenditure in the defense sector across the world.
Despite being one of the highest spending countries in the military sector globally, India’s expenditure on defense sector is less than 2.5 percent of the GDP. In the year 2022, India will spend 2.4 percent of its total GDP on defense sector. India is also behind China in this matter. To face any challenge in the coming time, it is necessary to have proper preparation of the army, hence there is a need to pay more attention to the defense sector.
More investment needed for border security
Generally the budget has to be kept fixed on some things like pension. Due to this, many sectors like defense are not given much attention in the budget. Whereas for the security of the country, it is necessary to keep the defense sector in the priority list. On one hand, India’s tension with neighboring countries like China and Pakistan continues. There are often reports of infiltration and clashes on the borders, hence there is a need to invest more in infrastructure and surveillance systems on the borders.
There are no less challenges within the country as well.
Apart from this, there is also a threat of extremism, Naxalism and terrorist incidents in the country, therefore, from the training of soldiers to intelligence operations, it is necessary to strengthen paramilitary forces and law enforcement agencies with modern equipment and resources.
Under the Self-reliant India initiative, it is necessary to make the country self-reliant in the defense sector also. For this, investment will have to be made on research for manufacturing defense equipment in the country itself.
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