In the shadow of the recent India-Pakistan military clashes, defense spending has been increased by 20 percent since last year.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Tuesday hiked defense spending by 20% following last month’s deadly conflict with India. The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the increase as part of the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, in which overall spending will be cut by 7% to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion).

Pakistan will raise defence spending by a steep 20% after a military clash with its old enemy India last month, but will slash overall federal expenditure for fiscal 2025-26 by a hefty 7% to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion).