India's Arms Collection

The father of the nation had said, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." All respect and honor to the Mahatma in its place, but as far as his teachings are concerned we can fill our ears with them. It is a pity that the reality is very different from what he said and in the 21st century the entire world seems to be preparing for war and is stockpiling weapons. The situation in India seems to be no different from this.

Since the country's independence, it has had the reputation of a peace-loving and humanity sympathetic nation, which it has maintained.

Solving World Problems

For solving world problems, India has maintained its reputation as heading the list of non-aligned nations. Even today the country maintains its reputation for brotherhood and peace-loving country. This is a praiseworthy characteristic of India. It has always been desirous of solving its problems peacefully. This is one side of the picture which is extremely pleasing. But its other side is a cause of worry for peace-loving sympathizers. This is that India heads the list of countries in arms purchasing, according to the list of arms purchased released by an organization from Stockholm.

After intensive research, between 2006 and 2010, India has left the rest of the world far behind in arms purchases. China which used to head the list for the past four years has been relegated to second place in arms purchasing , while North Korea has gone to the third place and Pakistan fourth.

Requirement for Self-Relianc

There is no denying that with neighbors like Pakistan and China with which India has border disputes effect bilateral relations from time to time. There is always the danger of war erupting with them. It is very important for India to maintain constant vigil and remain prepared constantly. Because of this, the country keeps on buying weapons. This is the first requirement for self-reliance but to keep on constantly buying weapons is hardly a solution. The country will have to seriously reconsider this problem, especially with those countries with which it has disputes.

It is essential to stay on constant alert and is a prime necessity of self-reliance. But for this, it is not necessary to buy weapons all the time. Before going any further, it may be noted that for 2011 and 2012 the amounts set aside for defense is trillions of dollars. Ordinary citizens will not be able to tell how many Rupees are in $100 million. Like the people who can find love, there are very few who can figure this out. Keep in mind that every citizen is an equal participant in this.

Improving Infrastructure

On one side, this an expense more or less in billions, and on the other, this is a bitter reality which cannot be denied. For example India has one-third of the poor people in this world which means that every third poor man in this world is an Indian. In diet deficiency, India comes after Bangladesh. This is the reason that 3,707 million die of malnourishment. Thirty-five percent of India's our population is unemployed. Very few get clean water to drink. This is the reason that 37.7 die million is no small number. Over 200,000 succumb to malaria every year.

According to some sources, 20 million with higher education are unemployed. To improve the infrastructure how many areas are to be improved? All dangers that are facing the country have to be faced which we are doing in a half-hearted manner. If it was not for defense we could have reached a stage of development and we could have taken the next step toward empowering the people's lives.