World

Pakistan boosts defence budget by 20% post India clash

Pakistan unveiled an increase of 20 per cent in its annual defence budget for 2025-26, only weeks following a major confrontation with India. The government unveiled the new budget on Tuesday, setting aside 2.55 trillion rupees ($9bn) for the military, an increase of 20 percent. This rise is being made at a time when the total amount spent by the government is expected to increase by 7 percent to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62bn).

Military Muscle Part Re Post-Border Tensions
The announcement comes after severe cross-border clashes in May that saw Pakistan and India carry out airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery strikes before agreeing to a ceasefire. It was one of the most serious military engagements between the two nuclear-armed countries in nearly three decades. The violence began after a deadly assault in the Indian-administered Kashmir town of Pahalgam on April 22. India blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied the accusation.

Strategic Orientation to Growth and Security
It seems like Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's budget aims at marrying economic growth initiatives and nation building and defence. The 20 per cent boost to defence was on the analysts' radar, and it is likely to be partially paid for by cuts elsewhere in development spending. Comparatively, India's own defence budget for 2025-2026 is $78.7bn, an almost 10 per cent increase and a hint at future growth.