NEW DELHI: V.P. Singh declared in the Lok Sabha that the government was committed to increase the budgetary allocation for defense in the face of Pakistan strengthening its defense forces in the last few years.
Accusing the previous government of virtually freezing the defense budget and harming the country’s security interests, he said, “we have to make up for that policy with overall allocation increase in which the navy will also have its share.”
The prime minister’s assertion came in reply to Congress I member Madhavrao Scindia who wanted to know if government would increase the allocation for navy to 25 percent of the defense budget in view of new acquisitions by Pakistan navy.
‘The prime minister said he shared the concern of the member and added that when Pakistan was modernizing its defense forces, the previous government had frozen the budget by cutting the outlay.
“We are determined to make up for the distortions of the last few years, it was a wooly headed thinking about our security (to cut the defense outlay) When the response that ought to have been different, the defense budget was actually frozen. Taking into account, the foreign exchange variations and inflation, in real terms the defense budget was curtailed,” he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 11, 1990
