Stockholm, April 25 (newsin.asia): India was the fifth-largest military spender in the world as its expenditure grew by 8.5 per cent, spending $55.9 billion in 2016 on defense ,says the Stockholm Institute of Peace Reseach (SIPRI).
None of the South Asian countries other than India were in the first fifteen.
Pakistan spent 3.5 per cent of its GDP on military and did not feature in the top fifteen spenders, which make up 81 per cent of total global military spending.
World military spending was $1.69 trillion in 2016.
The United States had the highest annual military expenditure in the world. The country’s military spending grew by 1.7 per cent. China’s military expenditure grew by 5.4 per cent when compared to last year. Russia was the third largest spender with an increase of 5.9 per cent.
Saudi Arabia was the third largest spender in 2015 but dropped to fourth place in 2016 as its expenditure fell by 30 per cent to $63.7 billion, “despite its continued involvement in regional wars”, it added.
The world’s military budget is distributed as follows: US 36%; China 13%; Russia 4%; Saudi Arabia 3.8%; India 3.3%; France 3.3%; UK 2.9%; Japan 2.7%; Germany 2.4%; South Korea2.2%; Italy 1.7%; Australia 1.5%, Brazil 1.4%; UAE 1.3%, Israel 1.1%.All others 10%.
Spending grew in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa. By contrast, military spending fell in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, South America and sub-Saharan Africa.
(The featured pictures at the top shows Indian missile on parade)
