India’s Defense Budget is Outgrowing Pakistan’s

The crisis on the Indian-Pakistani border intensified today, when Indian troops allegedly fired across the border killing four people, according to Pakistani officials. India is meanwhile demanding Pakistan release a captured Indian air force pilot, who was shot down over Pakistan. Pakistan said it would release the pilot on Friday.

The new border crisis emerged after a terror attack in Kashmir on Feb 14, which killed 40 and was allegedly planned by militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. India subsequently launched airstrikes in Pakistan territory on Tuesday, the first such maneuver by the Indian Air Force since the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, saying it was aiming at terrorist targets. Wednesday, at least one Indian and one Pakistani were shot down while flying in the border zone.

Pakistan and India have long been at loggerheads over territory in the region of Kashmir. Both countries have been at war several times and have seen mobilizations on their respective borders over countless issues, most of them territorial. India is the larger nation of the two and also has a larger military budget, according to data by Stockholm Internation Peace Research Institute. Recently, India has grown its defense budget significantly, far outperforming Pakistan, which still spends more money on defense per capita.