07/30/10 (LWN-Commentary) It was recently reported in the news that India signed a deal to buy $800 million dollars worth of military jet aircraft from the U.K. This is a rather large purchase of weapons for a country with such widespread poverty and hunger.

According to UNICEF, India has more malnutrition than sub-Saharan Africa. Not long ago, the Times of India reported that 45,000 children die of malnutrition yearly in the state of Maharashtra, and the government spends very little to remedy this.

2005 statistics showed that the infant mortality rate in India is higher than that of Gaza, Papua New Guinea, or Senegal. Literacy was estimated at only 59.5 percent the same year, which is lower than that of most other Asian countries.

Despite the boasts of economic success and prosperity in India, many people live in severe poverty. There may be billionaires and a "high-tech economy" in Bangalore, but the IDG News Service reported in 2009 that less than half of Indians own a telephone.

Even the most impoverished nations need to defend themselves. However, India's military budget has risen to the equivalent of $36 billion dollars according to SIPRI.org, which is approximately seven times higher than Pakistan's spending.

It also exceeds the military spending of Brazil or Australia, and it's about four times the military budget of oil-rich Iran. Why is this necessary, especially when India already has nuclear weapons and its only enemy is focused on internal conflict?

Some of these funds would surely be better spent on things like food, health care, education, and infrastructure.