Despite economic slowdown:

Asia forking out on defence

SINGAPORE: Incr-eased military spending by China and India is forcing other Asia-Pacific countries to modernise their armed forces despite the severe impact of the global financial crisis, experts say.

Data from defence research firm Jane’s Information Group estimates total military spending in the region rising year-on-year — from about 220 billion dollars in 2008 to 239 billion dollars this year and higher still in 2010. Those figures include external defence and homeland security and cover a region stretching from Central Asia to Australia.

“India and China are forcing the countries to think very hard strategically about their defence capabilities,” Jon Grevatt, a regional defence specialist with Jane’s, told AFP from Bangkok.

He said that although money is tight across the region, “the pressure of not spending on defence is very high due to the considerable military influence that China and India are assuming in this part of the world.”

Even countries not bordering China and India are upgrading their arsenals.

Singapore, despite suffering its worst-ever economic slowdown, will increase its defence spending by an annual 6.0 percent to 7.53 billion dollars in the new fiscal year starting April, the government says.

The city-state’s immediate neighbours, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are all poised to follow suit, Grevatt said.

“What you can see in Southeast Asia is something like a mini arms race with capabilities such as submarines and armoured vehicles being acquired,” Grevatt added.

China and India have both amassed wealth after years of rapid economic growth. “They want to use that wealth to develop and procure military capability so that they are perceived as a country that can defend their assets,” said Jane’s Grevatt.

Sunday, AFP