"Apart from the manufacturing push, everybody wants to produce their own. Defence is also becoming important," Dev said. "The focus India is giving to defence expenditure and indigenous production of defence arms and equipment is understandable."
"This kind of expenditure, and even the step-up, will be visible in the coming budgets as well," the PM's adviser explained. It will be driven by geopolitical concerns. We need to expand for our own security."
Earlier this week defence expert and a former high-ranking Ministry of Defence (MoD) official Dr Thomas Mathew said India should keep raising military spending.
"India should have a budget that should be at least about 5% of the country's GDP," Mathew told Sputnik India. "India needs to prepare itself to counter its declared enemies. One must not forget that India wants good neighbourly relations with all its neighbours, but some of its neighbours are inimical to its security and sovereignty."