The arms race did not end after the collapse of the Soviet Union. India and Pakistan, a stone’s throw from each other, continue to demonstrate the relevance of maintaining a self-destructive arsenal of weapons to protect each of their interests in the region. These countries spend a large part of their fiscal budget on acquiring weapons and strengthening their armed forces in almost constant tension every day.

Military spending in this region is the highest, with each respective government heading towards Armageddon as the years go by. There seems to be a bottomless pocket for billions spent to upgrade and maintain an expensive army ready for combat in an instant. It seems that finances were never an issue for the two countries that were once united. Their spending now borders on the absurd, as each of them wastes an ever-increasing budget with each passing year showing the other side their military might.

For example, Pakistan spent $ 300 billion during 2008-2009 improving its defense capabilities. The following year saw around $ 350 billion spent on defense. However, that was never enough. Before the end of that year, the country added another $ 35 billion due to the demands of the military chiefs. That makes a staggering nearly $ 400 billion spent on military upgrades. In a country ravaged by poverty and growing terrorism, this kind of spending is insane.

The same crazy resource allocation was seen on the other side of the subcontinent. India does not want to simply allow its neighbor to take the lead. Last year came the largest deal between India and the US, when the former acquired around 10 C-17 Globemaster-IIIs. These giant strategic birds cost around $ 2.2 billion. Each of these aircraft can carry 170,000 pounds of payload and can carry both tanks and men for more than 2,000 miles. Since it can be refueled in mid-air, its range is only limited by pilot fatigue. In addition to this purchase, India also purchased 8 Boeing P8l aircraft for long-range overwater surveillance and reconnaissance. Added to these are 6 C-130Js, also known as Super Hercules, to bolster India’s lifting capacity, but at a cost of another $ 1 billion in taxpayer money. Along with this deal was the $ 1 billion purchase of 197 Eurocopters for light duty missions and the $ 1.5 billion budget for 6 Airbus-330 MRTTs used as airborne refueling aircraft. The spending does not end there, as the country plans to buy another 126 medium multi-role fighters for the Indian Air Force that can be around $ 10.4 billion. India acquires its military equipment from everywhere: the United States, Russia, Brazil, Europe and even Israel.

With more than 1.3 million servicemen on active duty at any one time, India is considered one of the largest permanent armies in the world. Pakistan obviously does not want to be left out as it tries to keep up by allocating a large amount of resources to military defense. Although both countries are relatively young, their bitter history was created from a bloody struggle between them. The political news in the region can only say so much, as both nuclear powers engage in countless duels over the years. Unfortunately, both countries are also mired in bad economic instability and extreme poverty. Their expensive military spending can’t get them anywhere.

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