Defence stocks soar amid India-Pakistan border tensions
Shares of defence companies rallied sharply on Friday, rising between 1.59% and 14.24%, as escalating tensions along the India-Pakistan border reignited investor interest in the defence sector.
Apollo Micro Systems led the charge with a 14.24% gain, followed by Astra Microwave Products (5.63%), Paras Defence and Space Technologies (5.46%), and Bharat Dynamics (5.37%). Other notable gainers included ZEN Technologies (5%), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (4.64%), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (4.01%), Data Patterns (India) (3.52%), Bharat Electronics (2.62%) and Hindustan Aeronautics (1.59%).
The rally comes on the heels of Indias successful overnight interception of Pakistani missile and drone attacks targeting key military installations in Jammu, Pathankot, and Udhampur. The swift response reportedly neutralised multiple threats across 15 locations in northern and western India.
According to market analysts, the surge in defence stocks is also backed by strong order books and recent order wins. While India currently allocates around 2.3% of its GDP to defence spendinglower than global peers spending 35%analysts anticipate a 78% annual rise in capital outlay over the next five years, potentially fueling further growth in the sector.
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First Post
15 minutes ago
- First Post
Can debt-ridden Pakistan afford to hike its defence budget?
Pakistan is expected to raise its defence budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The country's Planning Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, confirmed the move over the weekend, citing tensions with India as the reason. This comes as Islamabad's total public debt has reached a staggering PKR 76 trillion (around $269 billion), as per its economic survey 2024-25. However, the country's defence spending remains dwarfed by India's read more Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Asim Munir holds a microphone during his visit at the Tilla Field Firing Ranges (TFFR) to witness the Exercise Hammer Strike, a high-intensity field training exercise conducted by the Pakistan Army's Mangla Strike Corps, in Mangla, Pakistan May 1, 2025. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) via Reuters Pakistan is increasing its defence budget amid recent tensions with India. The country's Planning Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said on the weekend that the government will hike its defence budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The move comes even as Pakistan remains debt-ridden and the country faces economic instability and high inflation. As Pakistan increases its defence budget, we take a look at how it compares with India's. Pakistan to raise defence budget Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal confirmed on Saturday (June 7) that the government will increase the defence budget. 'It is our national duty to provide the armed forces with whatever they need in this budget to bolster their capacity and defend our country in the future. It has been proven that we have a dangerous neighbour (India) who attacked us in the night, but we gave them a befitting response,' he was quoted as saying by Pakistan's Dawn. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Iqbal said the country must 'remain ready to respond if they attack again'. The likely step comes amid Pakistan's economic woes. The country's economic survey 2024-25 revealed that Islamabad paid $7.8 billion in external debt service payments in the previous financial year. A boy plays with a soccer ball next to a smouldering pile of rubbish, ahead of the World Environment Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, June 4, 2025. Reuters The country is spending more than 1.9 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on debt service payments, according to the survey. Pakistan's total public debt has reached a staggering PKR 76 trillion (around $269 billion), almost double since 2020-21. Of this, Islamabad owes $87.4 billion to other countries and multilateral agencies. Pakistan has to pay China $15 billion – the largest amount among bilateral lenders. This is followed by Japan at $3 billion and France at over $1 billion. The Shehbaz Sharif government's decision to hike the military budget comes amid significant damage to Pakistani airbases and air defence systems in the strikes by India under Operation Sindoor in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. Pakistan's military budget Pakistan will unveil its annual budget for the coming fiscal year today (June 10), reported to be a PKR 17.6 trillion budget. According to Reuters, analysts predict a rise of about 20 per cent in the country's defence budget. Pakistan had increased its defence budget by 16.4 per cent last year. Pakistan allocated PKR 2.1 trillion for defence in the FY 2024-25, including $2 billion for equipment and other assets. The country's military expenditure stood at $10.2 billion for 2024-25, data by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD To counter India's technologically advanced forces, Islamabad has focused its defence spending on maintaining nuclear capabilities and expanding its missile systems. Pakistan has an edge over India only in mobile rocket systems, 600 over New Delhi's 264, as per an Economic Times (ET) report. India, Pak comparison India has a bigger military than Pakistan and notably higher defence spending. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, India set aside $78.7 billion for defence spending, a 9.5 per cent rise from the previous year. India's military spending for 2024-25 was at $86.1 billion, as per SIPRI data. This makes the country the fifth-largest military spender in the world. The world's most populated country's defence budget has grown in the past decade. In 2013, India's military spending was at $41 billion. This nearly doubled to $80 billion by 2024, as per data from Macrotrends. India is seeking to enhance its defence capabilities by expanding the domestic production of weapon systems to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. It has also enhanced its air power by making key purchases such as Rafale fighter jets. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When it comes to manpower, India has 14.5 lakh active military personnel, as compared to its rival neighbour's 654,000. India boasts 730 combat-ready aircraft, while Pakistan has 452 military aircraft. India's military has 4,201 tanks and roughly 149,000 armoured vehicles, with Pakistan possessing only 2,627 tanks and 17,500 armoured units. India's naval power is also superior to Pakistan's. The Indian Navy operates 293 vessels, including two aircraft carriers, 18 submarines, and 13 destroyers. Pakistan, on the other hand, has 121 vessels but does not have aircraft carriers or destroyers. With inputs from agencies
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
FATF can salvage its counter-terrorism credentials by cracking down on Pakistan
With the second meeting of the FATF scheduled to commence today, countries interested in the fight against terrorism and its financing need to re-evaluate Pakistan's role in failing to crack down on terrorism from its soil read more Should the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) take a sharper and closer look at Pakistan's counter-terrorism reality? With the second meeting of the FATF scheduled to commence on 10 June 2025, like-minded countries invested in the fight against terrorism and its financing need to re-evaluate Pakistan's role in failing to crack down on terrorism from its soil. Pakistan has thrice been listed on FATF's Grey List in the past, from 2008-2010, 2012-2015 and 2018-2022. The third time around, it landed on the list after the motion was initiated by the United States and supported by the United Kingdom, France and Germany due to Pakistan's glaring deficiencies in counter-terrorist financing (CFT). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The recent events around the conduct of Operation Sindoor are a stark reality check on the complicity of the Pakistani state in supporting, funding and participating in terrorism. If the world needed any further proof, Pakistan did not hesitate to provide it in full glare of the world media. Shortly after the successful precision strikes, senior military commanders stood in solidarity at the funeral prayer meeting, led by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist commander Hafiz Abdul Rauf. Pakistani military personnel went a step further by carrying the coffins of terrorists to reinforce their support and backing for UN-proscribed terrorist groups and their leaders. Terrorist leaders from the LeT and JuD have since been seen openly galvanising support for terrorism from Pakistan and collecting funds to provide an impetus to their 'jihad'. The Pakistani 'establishment' and terrorist handlers are confident that, having escaped the FATF clutches, they can continue to support terrorism as a state policy. Pakistan has been at pains to highlight Kashmir as the point of contention with India. On the contrary, it is Pakistan's employment of terrorism as an instrument of hybrid war that should remain the focus of attention of world capitals. And the best way to curb Pakistani adventurism is to retain strict control over the proliferation of terrorism by organisations like the FATF. There is no better way to ensure stability in the region and restrict the export from the terrorism factory of the world, and curbing its funding. The FATF is a 40-member, inter-governmental, multinational body that acts as a 'watchdog' against money laundering and terrorist financing. India is a member of the grouping. The FATF sets standards to fight terrorist finance and, along with its affiliated bodies, evaluates member countries for their compliance with its guidelines. This includes technical compliance, such as the absence of or inadequacy of laws. More importantly, its focus on the effectiveness of implementation highlights weaknesses or, worse, wilful defiance of countries like Pakistan in fighting terrorism. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's last evaluation by the FATF was done in 2019. Its report was a national embarrassment for the country, at the very least. If Pakistan's evaluation is compared to a student's school report card, then, of the 11 effectiveness parameters, Pakistan failed in 10 and got a compartment in one! The rowdy kid's abysmal report card was not a sign of inability or a lack of resources to study. It came from the confidence to successfully fool not only the class teacher but the entire school faculty. This does not come as a surprise, given the country's record of nurturing and sheltering UN proscribed terrorist groups and their commanders. The evaluation report noted that 'Several UN-listed organisations continue to operate openly in Pakistan, including holding fundraising events.' Pakistan has mastered the art of obfuscating reality and window dressing the true face of its parallel terror economy. The appeasement of major powers by handing over selective terrorist leaders and promising to safeguard economic interests like the CPEC corridor is not a guarantee against the spread of the contagion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD If the FATF does intend to expose Pakistan's age-old strategy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds, then its record of fighting terrorism deserves closer scrutiny. Member countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany that have been victims of Pakistan's terror factories should support India's attempt at stabilising the region by curbing the funding of terrorism in Pakistan. The international community must realise that the Pakistani establishment's repeated claims of being a victim of terrorism are inherently flawed. It is not the West that is responsible for Pakistan's terror woes, unlike Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's repeated assertions. It is Pakistan's strategy of promoting extremist thought and sowing jihadi ideology that is hollowing its social fabric. Pakistan has been fooling the world by selectively fighting terrorism and equally selectively sharing figures of terrorists prosecuted and acted against. If this continues, little change can be expected. It is time to reintroduce the motion in the FATF to at least place Pakistan on the Grey List. This is despite the reality of mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the blackest of them all? Pakistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Col Vivek Chadha (Retd) is a Senior Fellow at Manohar Parrikar IDSA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
11 Afghan trucks laden with semi-perishable goods stranded at Wagah, await Pak's clearance
Even as more than 150 trucks stranded at the Attari-Wagah border crossed into India last month after the flare up between India and Pakistan, 11 trucks are still stranded near Wagah on the Pakistan side. Mukesh Sidhwani, a prominent dry fruit trader in Amritsar, said, 'These trucks have been there since April 23 after the closure of the Attari-Wagah border following the Pahalgam terror attack. Most trucks returned or crossed over, but these 11 are still stuck.' Sidhwani said, 'These trucks, loaded with dry fruits, were not included in the official list of stranded vehicles at Wagah. There seems to be a technical error. The trucks were left out of the official count. Now, the Pakistan government is asking the Afghan authorities to provide necessary documents.' 'These trucks contain semi-perishable goods. The delay is resulting in mounting losses. The truck owners cannot deploy these vehicles elsewhere, and the drivers remain stranded at the border,' he added. Traders in Afghanistan are reportedly coordinating with both the Afghan and Pakistani governments to complete the paperwork and resolve the issue. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
