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Context: As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) annual report, India was the third-highest military spender in the world behind the US and China as the global defence expenditure reached an all-time high of $2.1 trillion in 2021.

• SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

Key findings of the SIPRI report:

• The top five military spenders are the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia, which accounted for 62 per cent of the global military expenditure.
• India’s military spending, amounting to $76.6 billion in 2021. The data takes into account India’s complete defence budget, a major portion of which goes into pensions and salaries.
• The SIPRI data also shows that roughly 50 per cent of India’s defence exports from 2017 to 2021 were to its immediate neighbour Myanmar, followed by Sri Lanka at 25 per cent and Armenia at 11 per cent.
• Amid ongoing tensions and border disputes with China and Pakistan, India has prioritized the modernization of its armed forces and self-reliance in arms production.
• China’s military expenditure has grown for the 27th consecutive year. China’s growing assertiveness in and around the South and the East China seas have become a major driver of military spending in countries such as Australia and Japan.

What are the steps taken by the Centre to boost defence production?

Measures announced to boost exports include

• simplified defence industrial licensing
• relaxation of export controls and grant of no-objection certificates
• specific incentives were introduced under the foreign trade policy
• Ministry of External Affairs has facilitated Lines of Credit for countries to import defence product.
• defence attaches in Indian missions abroad have been empowered to promote defence exports.
• On the domestic front, to boost indigenous manufacturing, the Government had issued two “positive indigenisation lists” consisting of 209 items that cannot be imported and can only be procured from domestic industry.
• A percentage of the capital outlay of the defence budget has been reserved for procurement from domestic industry.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/global-military-spending-india-china-russia-7885931/

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