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India-Pakistan
Pakistan should focus on economic progress, not defence: Nawaz
2014-05-29
LAHORE: Acknowledging that Pakistan is well-equipped to defend itself militarily, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the country should instead concentrate on economic progress.
India will be.
India's economy is growing nicely. They can afford to concentrate on both.
The premier was addressing a gathering organised to mark the Youm-e-Takbeer. On this day in 1998, Pakistan became world's seventh nuclear power.
"What kind of nuclear power are we if we are still engulfed in darkness instead of light; we have illiteracy instead of education, we have more unemployed people than those with jobs and more terrorism and less peace," the prime minister remarked.

PM Nawaz said his government has been working hard from the very first day to ensure that people eventually have access to uninterrupted power supply. "We will not stop until we get rid of the curse of load-shedding from this country," he said.

Hopeful about ending the power crisis soon, the premier said his government is in talks with the Chinese leadership to set up more power plants to meet the country's energy demands.

"It is a big achievement that we have laid foundation of various power plants in less than a year since we came to power," Prime Minister Nawaz pointed out.

The premier remarked that he was not just responsible to bridge the current demand and supply gap but also responsible for ensuring that electricity requirement for the next 20 years were met as well.
No way that common sense is going to win out.
Posted by:Ulans Glish3303

#8  AFAICT that statement would be valid for almost all militaries, now and throughout the past. So the question is how hobbled are they relative to their enemies.

"Officers and experts say that because the defense budget has stayed flat at $14 billion for the past three years, with key acquisition programs stuck in the Defense Ministry's bureaucracy, the military has a critical shortage of ammunition and gaping holes in its air defense systems.

Many blame Defense Minister A.K. Antony, whose tenure began in 2006, for the problems.

In the past seven years, $9 billion worth of tenders for various defense projects have been canceled midway during procurement; half a dozen overseas defense companies have been blacklisted on charges of alleged corruption; and more than 50 complaints against various defense deals have been sent to the country's anti-fraud agency , a MoD source said.

All of these steps, which were aimed at promoting transparency and weeding out corruption, led to shortages of weaponry and equipment, and prices of some systems have gone up by 100 percent after the cancellation of the tenders.

The canceled tenders include a $720 million VVIP helicopter deal with AgustaWestland, due to charges of corruption. A midair refueler tender worth more than $250 million was issued in 2007, canceled in 2009 and restarted in 2010.

A tender for the purchase of 197 light utility helicopters, needed urgently by the Indian Army and Air Force, was canceled in 2008 and issued again in 2009. However, the fate of the program is still not known as the commercial bids have yet to be opened.

"Everything went wrong," said Shyam Kimar Singh, a retired Indian Navy captain, referring to Antony's tenure. "Hardly any capital procurement cases went through except a few offshore patrol vessels for the Coast Guard. No case has seen the light of day in the 'Buy and Make Indian' category. The mine countermeasures vessels project [is an example] of poor decision-making.""

[DefenseNews] Procurement Problems Await Next Indian Government

China's procurement process is not without problems but IMHO India's is worse.
Posted by: Squinty   2014-05-29 17:32  

#7  Obumble want's them. the idiots, that is, they make nice Democrats.

Pre-qualified so to speak.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-05-29 15:52  

#6  hoards of morons are not desirable

They're very desirable to the government they vote for.
Posted by: Glenmore   2014-05-29 12:25  

#5  India's military is hobbled by corruption and inefficiency. Fixing that will be a tall order.

India's military society is hobbled by corruption and inefficiency. Fixing that will be a tall order is impossible due to the nature of their culture.

Also, India's population is growing at 1.4% per year far surpassing...

The bulk of this population growth is among the low IQ uneducated and illiterate peasant classes. As RJ points out, hoards of morons are not desirable.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man   2014-05-29 10:42  

#4  India's military is hobbled by corruption and inefficiency.
AFAICT that statement would be valid for almost all militaries, now and throughout the past. So the question is how hobbled are they relative to their enemies.
Posted by: Glenmore   2014-05-29 08:51  

#3  Growth rate is not quality rate.
A hord of morons is still not desirable.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-05-29 05:43  

#2  Also, India's population is growing at 1.4% per year far surpassing ChinaÂ’s rate of 0.7%. This differential will result in India's population size overtaking China's in less than 20 years.

With such a high population growth rate 5% GDP growth projected for 2014 is not great.
Posted by: Squinty   2014-05-29 00:57  

#1  India's economy is growing nicely. They can afford to concentrate on both.

India's military is hobbled by corruption and inefficiency. Fixing that will be a tall order.
Posted by: Squinty   2014-05-29 00:19  

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