China’s military spending is nearly 3 times that of India’s, according to a new report by ‘Research and Markets’ – a market research firm based in Dublin, Ireland.
According to its latest report on defense spending by BRIC countries, China emerged on top with a spending of $108 billion in 2010. India spent just $36 billion in the same year.
However, India was the fastest growing country with an average growth of 17.9% in the four years leading to 2010, said.
Yet, the current gap in spending means India is unlikely to catch up any time in the near future. The Chinese will continue to be the top spenders up their spending to $191 billion by 2015.
The total defense market for the four countries in the BRIC — Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China — is about $237 billion, the report said.
China is second only to the USA in military spending. The US, according to estimates, spends about $700 billion a year on its defense forces.
India recently inked a deal, estimated to be worth $15-22 billion in the long term, to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets from France-based Dassault.