The business of battles

At the time of writing, the people of Pakistan are united in their pride of their armed forces, particularly the air force. The most hard-core critics of military spending have seen the wisdom of a high defence budget when we have a hostile nation as a neighbour. But in the end, who does war benefit? Not the civilians who fear for their lives and livelihoods while mourning those who are lost to conflict. Not the countries that spend billions in resources to prop up the militaries. From 1956 to 2024, India spent $1.4 trillion on military expenditure, compared to $348 billion in Pakistan, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), an independent international institute that provides data based on open sources. India is one of the top five military spenders in the world. Despite the massive difference in military spending, Pakistan has proven that it can do more with less.