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13-06-2025
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has announced a major boost to defence spending in its new budget, just weeks after coming to the brink of a fifth war with archrival India.
The budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026, announced by the government on Tuesday, ramps up defence spending to 2.55 trillion rupees ($9bn), up 20 percent from the current fiscal year, which ends this month.
The hike in defence expenditures comes amid a cut in overall spending, which is shrinking by 7 percent to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62bn).
The budget reflects Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s goals of spurring growth while boosting Pakistan’s military in the wake of the most serious conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly three decades.
The bitter foes attacked each other with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery for several days in May before a ceasefire was declared.
The hostilities were triggered by a deadly attack by gunmen in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, which India accused Pakistan of supporting. Pakistan denied any role in the attack.
A 20 percent boost in defence spending had been expected by economists, who said it would likely be offset by cuts in development spending, the Reuters news agency reported.
India’s defence spending in its 2025-2026 fiscal year, running from April to March, was set at $78.7bn, up nearly 10 percent from the previous year and it has indicated it will ramp up its spending further in future budgets.
On 11th May, a ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, after both sides accused each other of initial violations, as an uneasy calm has taken hold following days of the worst eruption of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades.
The Indian military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan on Sunday about violations of an agreed-upon ceasefire, informing it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if this was repeated, a top Indian army officer said.
India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) was speaking on Sunday as a fragile 24-hour-old ceasefire appeared to be holding after both sides blamed the other for initial violations on Saturday night.
The truce announced on Saturday halted several days of missiles and drones being fired at each country across their shared border, killing almost 70 people.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was spiraling towards a full-scale war. Within hours of its coming into force, there were explosions in Indian-administered Kashmir, the centre of much of last week’s fighting.
Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and witnesses.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, the Indian DGMO, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert (yesterday) and continue to be in that state.”
The Indian army chief had given a mandate to its commanders to deal with “violations of any kind” from across the borders in the best way they deem fit, Ghai added.
He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday afternoon and proposed the two countries “cease hostilities” and urgently requested a ceasefire.
