Pak hikes defence budget by 7% amid tensions with India
Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has presented a ?2.9 lakh crore annual budget, hiking defence spending by nearly 7% to ?56,657 crore, amid growing tensions with India along the Line of Control. Stating that Pakistan's economy has grown to over ?19 lakh crore, Dar also announced a 10% hike in salaries of soldiers who defeated militants in 2014 Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Nawaz Sharif led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government on Friday presented its fifth budget before the 2018 general elections alloting a total of Rs 4,757 billion expenditure for the next fiscal year. Stating that Pakistan's economy has grown to over USD 300 billion, finance minister Ishaq Dar presented the annual budget at the National Assembly, hiking the expenditure on defence by 7 per cent.Sharif-led government has allocated Rs 60 billion more to defence than what it allocated in the year 2016-17."We have increased the defence budget to Pakistani Rs 920 billion (from Pakistani Rs 860 billion)," Dar saidIn addition to that, Dar also announced a 10 per cent hike in the salaries of soldiers who contributed in defeating militants in Operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched in 2014. This is not the first time, that Pakistan's defence budget has been so high; in 2015-16 the budget was  Rs 775.8 billion and Rs 860 billion in in 2016-17. According to financial experts, the increase in thedefence budget comes in the light of cross border tensions with India, Afghanistan and Iran.Experts also say that though Pakistan Army has been rooting out terrorism from its own soil, through military operations Zarb-e-Azb, Khyber-I, Khyber-II and now Rad-ul-Fasad, tensions between India and Pakistan have only increased. India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants, who infiltrate from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir into the Valley and target Indian security forces. One such attack in September last year killed 18 Indian soldiers and India retaliated with "surgical strikes" on terrorist launchpads in PoK. Most recently, the Pakistan Army sentenced Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on charges of espionage after a secret trial. India had demanded consular access to Jadhav, which Pakistan repeatedly denied, claiming the man was an Indian spy. India and Pakistan are also at loggerheads over a China- backed economic corridor that runs through PoK. China says it is a developmental project and will aid Pakistan's economy. (With inputs from PTI)Also Read