Indian Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh has launched ‘Maa Bharati Ke Sapoot’ (MBKS) website for the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (AFBCWF) during a function at the National War Memorial Complex in New Delhi.
With an expenditure of $71.1 billion in 2019, India emerged as the third largest military spender in the world, just behind the US and China. In a report published Monday, Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said India’s expenditure grew by 6.8 per cent from 2018 and the country climbed up the rankings from its earlier fourth spot.
The country with a massive defense budget and one of the largest defence equipment importers from Russia, Japan, US and other countries is now forced to collect donations for the injured and the families of the killed soldiers.
Here are some reasons that have forced India to collect donations from the public for armed forces.
Tensions at China border
India is currently having tensions at its border with China in Sikkim since 2020 after the 1968 Indo-Sino. Due to the 2020-21 skirmishes in Sikkim with the Chinese Liberation Army, New Delhi is forced to focus on this front and spend amount of its budget on the front.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese forces in a disputed Himalayan border area. The incident followed rising tensions and is the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years
The LAC is poorly demarcated. The presence of rivers, lakes and snowcaps means the line can shift. The soldiers either side – representing two of the world’s largest armies – come face to face at many points.
But there have been tense confrontations along the border in recent weeks.
India has accused China of sending thousands of troops into Ladakh’s Galwan valley and says China occupies 38,000sq km (14,700sq miles) of its territory. Several rounds of talks in the last three decades have failed to resolve the boundary disputes.
Failed policies in Afghanistan
After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, its investments in India have drowned and whatever it was doing to create chaos in Pakistan by spending billions of dollars went into vain. This is also one of the reasons that has forced the Modi government to create other financial sources for the troops.
In early June 2022, a team led by JP Singh, the Joint Secretary heading the Pakistan–Afghanistan–Iran desk at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, visited Kabul and met with senior Taliban ministers to get some assurances regarding their investment and role in Kabul but the efforts remained useless.
Occupied Kashmir
The massive spending on the one million troops in Kashmir to keep its hold on the valley especially after scrapping the special status of occupied Kashmir. In 2022–23, the IN has been allocated a share of INR 47,590.99 crores as a capital outlay in comparison to INR 33,253.55 crores from the previous year’s budget. India has been facing resistance by the people of Kashmir who had been fighting for their just right to self-determination. The increasing defence expenditure in the IoK is also worrying New Delhi.
The much defence spending has compelled India to generate funds for the injured and killed soldiers in the battles from other means and this is one of the unique examples in the world where a country is asking for contributions to support the injured and the families of the killed soldiers.
