India's main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday urged the Congress government to increase the defence budget to at least 3% of the GDP to bring it at par with China.
Senior BJP leader, Balbir Punj also urged the defence minister to fight arms seller lobbies and promote domestic companies to make India self-sufficient in the field of arms.
"Why doesn't the government choose PPP (public private partnership) mode for production of indigenous arms? It is because arms import lobbies are very strong and they will never allow domestic production... the patrons of these lobbies are very highly placed," a BJP spokes person said.
Members of the BJP also pitched for higher budgetary allocation for the defence ministry.
"The government is claiming 17% increase in defence budget but it is only a numbers game. If we see the figures, the allocation for defence is less than last year's," Punj said.
"Pakistan spends three percent of it's GDP (gross domestic product) on defence. Our defence allocation should also be at least three percent of the GDP," he said. The allocation to defence in the current budget is about 2.3% of GDP.
Senior BJP leader, Balbir Punj also urged the defence minister to fight arms seller lobbies and promote domestic companies to make India self-sufficient in the field of arms.
"Why doesn't the government choose PPP (public private partnership) mode for production of indigenous arms? It is because arms import lobbies are very strong and they will never allow domestic production... the patrons of these lobbies are very highly placed," a BJP spokes person said.
Members of the BJP also pitched for higher budgetary allocation for the defence ministry.
"The government is claiming 17% increase in defence budget but it is only a numbers game. If we see the figures, the allocation for defence is less than last year's," Punj said.
"Pakistan spends three percent of it's GDP (gross domestic product) on defence. Our defence allocation should also be at least three percent of the GDP," he said. The allocation to defence in the current budget is about 2.3% of GDP.
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