It’s playtime in Asia. And how, as the Asian boys are growing up, they are playing with bigger, shinier and noisier guns. Not just guns, other toys too from the armoury, to give them more muscle. It’s no child’s play, after all, securing a part of the world that has over 60% of the world’s population, and 100% of the world’s attention.
India, China and Pakistan are feverishly adding to their nuclear warheads. India upped its nuclear warhead count from 80-100 in 2012, and to 110 in 2013. Not to be left behind, Pakistan added 30 and so, now has a total of 120 nuclear warheads, and China has gotten to an impressive figure of 250.
Defence budgets for all these countries remain tied to a strategy of ‘watching one’s back’. India, for instance, has spent 17% of its GDP to buy arms and ammunition. China’s has pegged its defence budget at a staggering 106 billion USD.
The recent incursion of the Chinese army into Indian borders seemed a rude reminder of an old wound. China’s String of Pearls Strategy in the Indian Ocean is a quiet storm building up in the water, and we all know, cyclones from the sea can pummel the land mercilessly. There’s more… China’s gentle helping hands with the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and with Nepal’s road constructions are beguiling in their innocence of intention.
India’s threat perception has grown sharper. And so, it is off to the global market to fill up its shopping basket with weapons.
According to the report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India cornered 9% of all international arms imports in the period 2006 to 2010. It is not expected to give up its first spot anytime soon.
“Just from what they have already ordered, we know that in the coming few years India will be the top importer,” says Siemon Wezeman, a senior Fellow at SIPRI.
A case in point is the proposed import of the Rafale jet fighter, one of which comes for a whopping 15 billion USD. If the deal comes through, it will be the biggest arms deal in history, and experts believe that the deal is as good as done. India is sure to sign on the dotted line, sooner or later.
India has been unsuccessful in bolstering its domestic arms industry. China has pipped India to this post as well, as it continues to fire up its domestic arms industry, as a result of which it has dropped to second place in global arms import, buying only 6% of all arms sold worldwide. It is an achievement with a twin advantage. It looks good in global forums and its economy stays well-fed as other sectors in the domestic economy appear to slacken.
India’s concerns of its vulnerability at home are matched by its eagerness to join the exclusive club
of powerful nations. Buying arms in the global market makes a mark in both these areas.
But look again, does it really?
The largest Asian democracy, that with the buoyant economy even as western steps falter on the developed road, is jockeying for its rightful share of the global power pie, to take its place at the high table of nations in the Security Council – too long has it been cheated of its rightful voice in the UN.
But with all this rash and righteous buying up of firepower in the global marketplace, will this elite membership continue to elude India – its perennial pie in the sky?
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