As two rising Asian powers, India and China are often predicted by analysts to be the future global superpowers based on their economic boom with double digit GDP growths and their rising politico-social influence in the third world since the last few years. In the myriad economic and political analyses, often overlooked is the military comparison of these two countries. It is a nation’s military strength which ensures its sovereignty and paves the way for economic stability and prosperity. A comparative analysis is therefore just, to see how India and China fare in military strengths against each other and in the global scene.
China’s military spending in 2006 is about $ 80 billion as estimated by the United States DoD (Department of Defense) reports while the official Chinese CPC government quote is a $30 billion military expenditure. The actual Chinese military capabilities and budget are shrouded in deep secrecy to prevent foreign countries having an idea of its military power…and perhaps to generate a lot of hype. Even if we were to go by the conservative official Chinese claims of $ 30 billion, it would put China second only to USA in global military spending - a very ambitious one at that. On the other side, India’s official military spending is quoted as $22 billion for 2006 by the Ministry of Finance (India) Budget (2006-2007) last April. India however, does not keep a level of secrecy as cloaked as China does, primarily because of its democratic government system and public accountability. By its official 2006 military budget figures, India stands at 9th position in global military spending.
China’s military spending in 2006 is about $ 80 billion as estimated by the United States DoD (Department of Defense) reports while the official Chinese CPC government quote is a $30 billion military expenditure. The actual Chinese military capabilities and budget are shrouded in deep secrecy to prevent foreign countries having an idea of its military power…and perhaps to generate a lot of hype. Even if we were to go by the conservative official Chinese claims of $ 30 billion, it would put China second only to USA in global military spending - a very ambitious one at that. On the other side, India’s official military spending is quoted as $22 billion for 2006 by the Ministry of Finance (India) Budget (2006-2007) last April. India however, does not keep a level of secrecy as cloaked as China does, primarily because of its democratic government system and public accountability. By its official 2006 military budget figures, India stands at 9th position in global military spending.
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