New Delhi, May 9: The Indian Army has reacted strongly to the cover photo of news magazine India Today. The army took to Twitter on May 8 to condemn the picture. According to the army, the morphed picture had deeply hurt the sentiments of serving and veteran soldiers. The cover photo of the latest edition of India Today has shown an army officer holding his pockets inside out.  The picture symbolises an apparent lack of funds for the forces. The cover of the magazine also carries a headline ‘Army is Broke’.

The army has also asked the magazine to respond to the issue it had raised about the dismal state of the armed forces' finances. The article talks about the army's budget crunch that would adversely affect its preparation to fight a two-front war. The article also compares India’s defence budget with that of China. According to that article, China spends $175 billion on military expenditure, which is three times that of India’s $45 billion.

Despite the recommendation of defence panel that the defence budget for the financial year 2018 should be around 2.5% of the GDP, this year’s defence budget was only 1.58% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was lower than last year’s allocation. After the war against China in 1962, this is the lowest allocation to defence forces.

The central government has been vocal about addressing the concerns of the armed forces on priority since it came to power in 2014. The article has not only dented the army’s image but also has raised questions on the government’s intention to strengthen our armed forces.

 

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 11:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).