India & Pakistan Arms Race, biggest world threat?

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  1. profile image0
    ryankettposted 14 years ago

    Pakistan now has over 100 deployed nuclear weapons, India has been investing heavily too, Pakistan is about to build its FOURTH reactor.

    Could the burdeon to India's continued growth be a forthcoming stand off, and why the hell would you want to nuke the country which is attached to you? Surely that would effectively be suicide?

    India and Pakistan are well on the way to possessing more active warheads than Europe (France and UK combined), and both will have more than China within a few years.

    Is there enough stability in that region for those countries to possess those capabilities? Three wars in 60 years suggests not. The arms race in that part of the world could potentially pose a much greater threat than the current situation in Korea.

    1. Hunbbel Meer profile image77
      Hunbbel Meerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I am from Pakistan, and I know the ground realities here.
      The fact is this, both these countries will never back off in creating weaponries and no one will ever attack each other with a nuke. This is a fact, everyone knows here, but many of them may not accept it.

    2. Hunbbel Meer profile image77
      Hunbbel Meerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Coming to your point again. YES, this is an unfortunate incident that both these countries, with ALMOST similar culture, and living styles (like America & Canada, as far as I know) has been rivals for each other for such a long period of time.

      I've read an article that was wonderfully written by Russell, (I think Betrand Russell was his name)
      If you are interested you must read that text (I'll confirm the title name, m unable to recall it right now)

      The gist of that text was (which I believe, and according the realties here, is TRUE) that Asian countries possess so much power in terms of their resources and madness towards some one, example is India, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. They all are very good in some particular field. So the Western Countries (mainly mentioned the British of that time - 1947) deliberately left a subject of dispute between these 2 powers, KASHMIR.

      The disputed area of Kashmir was the main reason of the 3 wars between them. I am telling you the first hand facts. In Pakistan, about 80% of the budget goes to the defense sector, and so does the India's. Now imagine, India's technology in I.T fields etc, and Pakistan's army/navy/air force are one of the much-talked field and forces respectively with NO BUDGET ON THEM AT ALL.

      If these budgets were allocated accordingly (and not 80% only on defense). These countries will be much developed like China, and Asia would have been a MUCH GREATER POWER, and that may clicked the Britians of that time

      Theme of that Betrand Russell's article, on which I 100% agree.

      1. pisean282311 profile image61
        pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

        India's defense budget 80%?...this is wrong figure..$29.46 billion is defence budget while gdp is 1 trillion...not much...and considering relationship it shares with growing super power china, it is not pratical to lesser defense budget...coming to pakistan is is 5 billion...considering pakistan's gdp it is too much but pakistan considers India as existential threat (wrongly from Indian perceptive but pakistan views it as reality)

        1. Hunbbel Meer profile image77
          Hunbbel Meerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Yes I'm from Pakistan, that's y 80% is right. I heard (from many people around & from the local media - may be they were exaggerating)
          that India too has their defense budget somewhere around 70-80%. I mean that's too much, if it is. Specially from Pakistan's point of view, as it's economy is lesser developed than India.

          Btw thanks for the statistics smile

          1. pisean282311 profile image61
            pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            nope...that is what i am saying...India has very less % of gdp in defence..the military expenditure of India has hovered around 2.75 percent of GDP ...you can do simple maths...divide $29.46 billion by 1 trillion and multiply by 100...

            India spends too less in comparision to Pakistan as far as gdp goes...considering pakistan is 1/6 of India , its gdb is quite low and so figures of India are high....

            do India and Pakistan need it is different question though...

        2. profile image0
          ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          You seem to be mistaking GDP for government revenues, if a country distributes 80% of budget to defence spending then it is effectively allocated tax incomes to this purpose not a proportion of the GDP, in order to do so it would need total ownership of every dollar in the country.

          1. pisean282311 profile image61
            pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            if a country distributes 80% of budget to defence spending then it is effectively allocated tax incomes to this purpose not a proportion of the GDP

            that is what i am saying...this 80% is wrong figure...if we go by revenue it would still be 25% at best because revenues are 130 billion while defense budget is 30 billion..


            yes lately India has been going for upgrading but it is too little to less..India sees china as threat and not pakistan...and china's defense system is robust..china has attacked India once and India has every reason to be suspicious about china...India's defense strategy is largely based on counter terrorism and chinese perceptive...

            1. profile image0
              ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              "if a country distributes 80% of budget to defence spending then it is effectively allocated tax incomes to this purpose not a proportion of the GDP"

              That's what I said.

              1. pisean282311 profile image61
                pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

                i am not getting it..u say if country distribute 80%...now it doesnot...that is what i am saying...it doesnot distribute 80%...

                1. profile image0
                  ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  It was you that mentioned the GDP

                  "India's defense budget 80%?...this is wrong figure..$29.46 billion is defence budget while gdp is 1 trillion...not much..."

                  I pointed out that GDP is entirely irrelevant to the claim that India spends 80% of its budget. why did you mention GDP? As it happens, 2.9% of your GDP is a lot of money; it represents a higher monetary than the UK has spent on the Iraq and Afghan wars since inception.

                  Indian tax reciepts equate to around 18% of GDP, so nowhere near 80%, but that is still a significant proportion of your government revenues. Total spending was 221.5 billion, so that is over 10%.

                  Some would argue that you should stop your silly arms race and invest more in your infrastructure and IT, thats the only way you will truly catch the big boys, especially as you ran at a deficit of around $70bn in 2009... 6.2% of your GDP.... either that or raise your taxes.

                  1. SiddSingh profile image60
                    SiddSinghposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                    All valid points, Ryan, but a little difficult to achieve at this point of time.

                    It is a tough neighborhood that we (India) live in.

                    Everyone is counting on the scorching pace of growth that everyone believes that India will attain - it will attenuate somewhat the ill effects of arms expenditure.

                    Plus, investing in infrastructure and the works is not limited for the want of funds - the only barrier is the Government willingness and ability to start the work.

                  2. pisean282311 profile image61
                    pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

                    @ryankett

                    No...i wont vote for getting defense budget down....reason is because it might be correct principally but not practically...i stay in India and i know how things are here ...i can't advise about where should usa or europe invest...reason i dont know what kind of threats usa faces...i can just read and have bit of understanding...thats it...in same ways India cannot cut down its defense budget...coming to pakistan , well India was never in race with pakistan. India doesnot see pakistan as threat...India is more concerned with china and less with pakistan...

                    It may seem to be silly race by you but for country which has faced 4 wars and is victim of terrorism since 20 years , well it is need for remaining upright....it could not have been 2nd fastest moving economy without its defense system...for growth stability is needed and in region where India is , it is unfortunate need...

                    Yes in future if India ,Pakistan and china go for more harmonious relationship...well then what you say would be silly race because of sake of it...till then it is not at all silly...

                    infra yes...we need lot of money in it but that can be managed...we are not doing it as OR...this or that...we need defense system to have stability and which in turn leads to growth...

                    If we would have had better option, land which gave gandhi and was not equipped to fight china in 1962 , wont have opted by 30 billion for defense...

      2. SiddSingh profile image60
        SiddSinghposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I am not sure about the figures for Pakistan, but that figure is entirely wrong in the case of India.

        As for Kashmir being the bone of contention - yes it is, for now. Let us consider a hypothetical situation - the Kashmir issue is somehow solved. You really think peace will break out between India and Pakistan?

        NO.

        Someone somewhere will find another reason.

        China - that master of artful diplomacy from times immemorial - will continue top add fuel to fire. It is in China's strategic interest to tie a heavy mill around India's neck. Have you heard about the "Pearl of Strings" theory?

        Coming to Pakistani nukes, I read a very interesting article - written by a Pakistani author. The gist was - The main purpose of Pakistani nuke is purported to be protection against a conventional military response from India. The nukes have repeatedly succeeded in that, three different times (according to author) -

        1999 (kargil)
        2001 (Parliament Attack)
        2008 (Mumbai Massacre)

        It is accepted that India considered a conventional military strike in all these events. What binds all these attacks together is ONE fact - they were all perpetrated by terrorists based in Pakistan.

        So, effectively, Pakistani nukes are protecting those terrorists!

  2. skyfire profile image77
    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    Indians are collecting nuclear weapons only to show off. There is no way they're going to attack any other country because if they do then there is no way they can manage the chaos within country. China is swallowing indian lands and releasing new maps in market, same is the case with pakistan. Indians never opposed them or took the matter to UNO. India is not a threat and never will be as far as weapons are concerned. Any 14 year old terrorist can cause havoc here and get away with it. Thanks to lefties, all the attempts to cause war are taken down. If right/centrist starts to rule this country then situation is going to change for sure.

    I'm not sure about Pakistan's nuclear stuff because regional politics and purpose of research in that place is completely different. I think 70% or more of pakistanis hate america than india. So india is not currently concerned with nuclear threat from pakistan. In fact both countries are trying to avoid war and manipulation from china/US as much as possible.

    1. profile image0
      ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      If China is stealing your land then why do you spend billions of dollars on their submarines and other military stuff?

      That's a little like watching your neighbour move his boundary fence to steal a metre of your garden, and then baking him some cakes.

      1. SiddSingh profile image60
        SiddSinghposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        ????

      2. pisean282311 profile image61
        pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

        chinese submarine?...well from where did u get this?

        1. profile image0
          ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Oh OK, sorry it was Russia.

      3. skyfire profile image77
        skyfireposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        India is not in position to make war with any country. Shooting even a single bullet to Chinese soldier will cause a lot of tension on border. On that point, china is the biggest threat to any other asian country. Nuclear Pakistan is not at all threat to india  or anyone unless someone plays wrong card.

  3. pisean282311 profile image61
    pisean282311posted 14 years ago

    No...India would never use nuclear weapons...Infact nuclear India is less threat than nuclear usa or russia or china...Pakistan wont be too adventures to nuke India..

  4. SiddSingh profile image60
    SiddSinghposted 14 years ago

    as per 2010-2011 Union Budget

    Total Central Govt Expenditure Budgeted - Rs 11,08,750 cr
    Allocated to Defence - RS 1,41,700 cr.

    That is significantly less than 80%.

  5. profile image0
    ryankettposted 14 years ago

    By the way, your country may have a military BUDGET of $29.6bn but we all know that budgets can be exceeded, in 2009 you were said to have spent more like $36bn on the military... so over budget...

    1. SiddSingh profile image60
      SiddSinghposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Don't worry on that account - we are experts at under-utilizing the allocation.

      1. pisean282311 profile image61
        pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

        lol sidd got it right..

  6. skyfire profile image77
    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    I'll make steve jobs rich by purchasing apple products than buying those useless dummy electronics from china. There is something seriously wrong with their quality control.

  7. skyfire profile image77
    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    Pune, Goa and some religious places in north india. Few europeans come to pune for religious and educational purpose and that's all.


    No idea about foreigners investing in property market. Never came across any, at least here in pune.

 
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