ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday defended its decision to raise defense spending by 20 percent in the new fiscal year, citing the need to strengthen missile defenses and counter what it described as a permanent state of hostility from India following the latest military standoff between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The remarks came during a press conference in London, where a high-level Pakistani delegation led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is lobbying Western governments to support Pakistan’s position on Kashmir, regional stability, and water security. The delegation includes senior lawmakers, including Khurram Dastgir Khan, a former defense minister and ruling Pakistan Muslim League party member.
Pakistan’s FY2025–26 budget has allocated Rs2.1 trillion ($7.5 billion) to defense, up from Rs1.8 trillion last year. The increase comes weeks after a brief but intense military flare-up with India in May, triggered by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, which denies the allegations.
Responding to questions about the sharp rise in defense allocations in Pakistan’s 2025–26 federal budget announced on Tuesday, Dastgir said the increase was proportional and necessary given the country’s limited resources and regional threat perception.
