Pakistan recently unveiled a 20% boost to its defence budget for 2025-26 fiscal year, allocating 2.55 trillion rupees (approximately US $9 billion). This marks one of the biggest military spending increases ever witnessed by any government.
- Response to India-Pakistan Military Confrontation
This surge can be directly attributed to last month’s cross-border flareup of Operation Sindoor between India and Pakistan in which India conducted missile and drone strikes deep inside Pakistan’s territory, prompting reciprocal military exchanges (youtube.com; wikipedia; economictimes);
Islamabad’s decision is driven by a strategic imperative to both replace and upgrade military assets damaged during recent strikes on Pakistan, and to safeguard any vulnerable assets revealed during these operations (Arabnews.com; M.economictimes; IndiaToday); - Modernizing Air Force with Chinese Weaponry
Pakistan intends to use part of the funds received to purchase 40 Chinese J-35A stealth fighters, missile-defense platforms and surveillance aircraft aimed at closing any technological gaps with more technologically advanced adversaries, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com. - Strategic Signaling and Regional Power Play
Pakistan’s military budget increase serves as a deterrent message against India and other regional rivals, despite having a defence budget nearly nine times smaller than India (currently around US $78 billion). Pakistan seeks to enhance force readiness and credibility on the international scene whilst remaining affordable (around US $72 billion for India vs US $84.8 billion). How the Increase Was Funded
Incorporating cuts from other public spending as sources for funding this increase
Overall federal expenditure has been reduced by an estimated 7% through cuts to subsidies and development projects to reallocate funds towards defence.
Pakistan IMF Supported Reforms Under an IMF-backed programme, Pakistan is expanding its tax base across agriculture, retail and real estate – sectors previously under-taxed– to increase revenue by 14-18% and help fund rising obligations including military outlays (Reuters.com +1). C. Foreign Support and Loans
Pakistan continues to rely on IMF loans while seeking Chinese financing and deferred payments, particularly for defense procurement deals,alitat washingtonpost.com/+1 for details of such deals (aljazeera.com +1 also has related coverage).
China remains the primary arms supplier, accounting for roughly 61% of military imports (sources: Wikipedia en Wikipedia and Youtube ). Sino-U.S. Military Relations | Domestic Debate and Global Implications (source: youtube )
Political Opposition and Public Concern
Critics–particularly from opposition parties and policy analysts–argue that heavy military spending may divert funding away from key sectors like education, healthcare, agriculture and climate resilience at a time of severe economic distress (ApNews.com).
Analysts note that with high public debt (around 65-70% of GDP), economic growth targets of 4.2% for FY26 could prove difficult to attain solely through monetary easing and fiscal discipline alone, even with their help. They forecast a positive outlook based on these predictions (Reuters +3; Financial Times).
Parliamentary approval should come in late June.
Tax reform and collection efficiency are crucial to supporting defence spending.
Success of modernization efforts hinges upon successful negotiations for arms deals with China.
Monitoring whether social services will experience further cuts due to fiscal prioritization.
Maintaining the IMF program under budgetary pressures.
Conclusion
Pakistan’s decision to increase defence expenditure by 20% demonstrates its ongoing focus on countering perceived military threats from India, modernizing its military with Chinese hardware, and using fiscal reforms to balance national security objectives with economic stability. How well the government navigates this budget shift while safeguarding domestic welfare while maintaining readiness will be the decisive test in 2019.
if you are victorious every thing belongs to you if you are defeated every thing belongs to your enemies