Ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s third budget, a key question is whether India will increase defence spending and by how much in FY 2021-22. Tensions with China are simmering. It has emerged as the key strategic challenge for India. Besides seeking parity with the US in military terms in Asia by 2027, Beijing is also putting in big money into Artificial Intelligence, space and cutting edge technologies like drone swarms. With the Indian economy just recovering from the Covid-19 shock, where are the resources for the defence sector going to come from? From the borders to cyberspace, how can India counter the China challenge? Join this LIVE panel discussion in Mint’s marathon run-up to the Union Budget coverage for answers these and other questions. Joining our moderator Mitali Mukherjee live for this conversation are PS Raghavan (Former Chairman, National Security Advisory Board), Dr Laxman Kumar Behera (Associate Professor, Special Centre for National Security Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University), G.Mohan Kumar (Former Defence Secretary), Dr Rajeshwari Rajagopalan (Distinguished Fellow and Head, Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative, Observer Research Foundation) and Lt Gen (Retd) S L Narasimhan (Director General, Centre for Contemporary China Studies).
Ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s third budget, a key question is whether India will increase defence spending and by how much in FY 2021-22. Tensions with China are simmering. It has emerged as the key strategic challenge for India. Besides seeking parity with the US in military terms in Asia by 2027, Beijing is also putting in big money into Artificial Intelligence, space and cutting edge technologies like drone swarms. With the Indian economy just recovering from the Covid-19 shock, where are the resources for the defence sector going to come from? From the borders to cyberspace, how can India counter the China challenge? Join this LIVE panel discussion in Mint’s marathon run-up to the Union Budget coverage for answers these and other questions. Joining our moderator Mitali Mukherjee live for this conversation are PS Raghavan (Former Chairman, National Security Advisory Board), Dr Laxman Kumar Behera (Associate Professor, Special Centre for National Security Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University), G.Mohan Kumar (Former Defence Secretary), Dr Rajeshwari Rajagopalan (Distinguished Fellow and Head, Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative, Observer Research Foundation) and Lt Gen (Retd) S L Narasimhan (Director General, Centre for Contemporary China Studies).