China hikes defence budget by 10 per cent to USD 275 billion
Beijing (PTI): China on Thursday hiked its defence budget by a little over 10 per cent to USD 275 billion, about USD 25 billion more than last year as it ramped the modernisation of armed forces to catch up with the US military.
Roughly 1.9 trillion yuan (about USD 275 billion) will be allocated to national defence, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced in his work report presented to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday.
The report said China's defence spending remains comparatively modest across key relative indicators, including its share of GDP, per capita defence expenditure, and defence expenditure per military personnel.
Last year China announced a 7.2 per cent increase for its national defence budget to USD 249 billion for 2025 which is a USD 17 billion rise compared to 2024.
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China’s defence spending, only second to that of the US, has been growing over the years putting enormous pressure on India and other neighbouring countries to scale up their defence budgets in the face of economic challenges.
In 2024, China increased its defence budget by 7.2 per cent to about USD 232 billion (1.67 trillion yuan) -- over three times that of India -- as it continues with the massive modernisation of all its armed forces.
China's defence budget figures are viewed with scepticism in the light of massive military modernisation, including building aircraft carriers, rapid construction of advanced naval ships and modern stealth aircraft being carried out at a feverish pitch by the Chinese military.
Meanwhile, China on Thursday lowered its GDP target to 4.5 to 5 per cent for this year in the face of Trump's trade tariff war, the worsening global crisis following the US-Iran war and headwinds in the domestic economy, owing to property market slump and unemployment crisis.
China has been setting a five per cent target for the GDP for the last three years amid growing domestic economic challenges. This year, the target is lowered to 4.5 per cent to 5 for the first time.
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3 Assam Congress MLAs join ruling BJP ahead of assembly polls
Guwahati (PTI): Three Congress MLAs – Kamalakhya De Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das – on Thursday joined the ruling BJP in Assam, along with two others, ahead of the assembly polls.
All of them were inducted into the party by state BJP president Dilip Saikia in the presence of Union minister Pabitra Margherita at a function here.
The development comes close on the heels of former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah joining the saffron party.
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Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly are likely to be held in April.
Purakayastha represents Karimganj (North), while Sashikanta and Basanta are sitting MLAs from the Raha and Mangaldoi (SC) constituencies, respectively.
The two others who joined the BJP are former Congress joint secretary Parsha Bob Kalita and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Kangkan Nath.
The three MLAs, reported to be close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, had openly supported the BJP for the past few years, with Sasikanta Das announcing his support to the ruling party's policies in 2021.
The Congress had suffered a jolt, with Borah joining the BJP on February 22, while two other MLAs Abdul Rashid Mondal and Sherman Ali Ahmed switching over to the Raijor Dal last month.
Both Mondal and Ahmed are three-time legislators from Goalpara (West) and Baghbar, respectively.
