South Asia Security Monitor: No. 318

PAK DEFENSE BUDGET SOARS
Pakistan is planning a 13 percent increase in defense spending for the next fiscal year. Under the planned budget, defense spending would rise to $6.37 billion from $5.53 billion. India’s official defense budget, by comparison, is nearly $40 billion. The increase would bring the share of defense spending in the government’s budge to 18%. The decision was made by the current transitional government and will be announced with the upcoming federal budget on May 31st. (The News Tribe, April 17, 2013)

PAKISTAN'S FORMER MILITARY RULER ARRESTED
After returning from self-imposed exile to campaign in upcoming national elections, Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military leader, has been arrested in connection with the unconstitutional firing of high level judges during his term as president. Musharraf remains a polarizing figure in Pakistan, and appears to have dramatically overestimated the level of public support he could expect upon his return. The former president and army chief is currently on house arrest at his farmhouse in the capital, Islamabad. He was hauled before a court April 26 to hear charges in a second case being filed against him for complicity in the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been barred from running for office in next month’s general election. (VOA, April 19, 2013)

INDIA VOWS TO PROTECT BORDER AMID ALLEGED CHINESE INCURSION
India has stated that it will protect its border from outside incursions following news that a Chinese patrol had set up camp roughly 10 kilometers inside the disputed territory of Ladakh in the Kashmir region of northern India. Chinese officials have denied the incursion, calling the border region “stable” while the Indian government has sought to downplay the episode. The two sides have held a pair of “flag meetings” between local military commanders, but the Chinese platoon remains camped out at its forward position. (VOA, April 22, 2013)

AF, PAK, US TO MEET FOR TALKS IN BRUSSELS
This week Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks in Brussels with Pakistan’s army chief and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. No specific commitments were made amid stalling progress on peace talks with the Taliban. Neither Karzai nor Kayani made any official comment after the meeting. The volatile relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been especially strained in recent months, with Kabul accusing its neighbor of undermining the peace process and providing support to the Taliban. (Reuters, April 24, 2013)