Former Army chief V P Malik told PTI that while neighbours like China and Pakistan are getting a military budget of more than three per cent of the GDP, India is still lagging behind the two per cent mark.
"China has more than 3 per cent, it has about 3.5 per cent. Pakistan has 4.5 per cent. We also have been demanding that it should be 3 per cent but it is in fact going down," he said.
In terms of GDP, this year's Budget allocation for defence is down from last year's 1.90 per cent to 1.79 per cent.
Factors like delay in procurement and inflation are not being taken into account while allocating funds for defence forces, Malik said.
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"Inflation too has not been accounted for and nobody takes care of the deficiencies which have come into the forces over the years. So if you look at it, the Budget today has no meaning at all," he said.
Retired Lt Gen R K Sawhney termed the allocation "grossly inadequate" and underlined the need for being militarily prepared.
"It is going to impact. It is grossly inadequate. All the factors such as delays in procurement and less finance will of course impact our operational factor. It will have its adverse impact for a long time to come," Sawhney said.
Keeping in mind the current environment India cannot afford not to be militarily prepared, he added.
"When there is a demand for increasing share of defence budget in relation to national GDP, the trend is actually showing otherwise. As far as India is concerned this is disappointing," he said.