The defence budget reveals India's core weaknesses

Budget has provided for just a 4.27 per cent rise in defence allocation for 2017-18

The Union Budget has been widely praised for its propensity to do no harm. One notable exception to this trend is the defence budget, which reflects a neglect of a real and present danger. The country faces threats on two fronts, which absorb military personnel and resources round the year in some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain, and it is being increasingly challenged along its long maritime border. Yet, the Budget has provided for just a 4.27 per cent rise (over revised estimates of 2016-17) in defence allocation for 2017-18 to Rs 3,59,854 crore. This sum masks many problematic