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New Indian Express

Weapon hawkers' gain, India's pain

It's certain some of them were involved in the West Asian deals. Saudi Arabia's $142-billion arms deal with the US during President Donald trump's visit is part of a wider $600-billion push that keeps defence stocks soaring even as West Asia burns. And now, India is being coaxed to join this cycle more deeply—pushed to purchase the US THAAD missile defence system, expand drone arsenals, and further militarise its border regions. But this path demands a reckoning: every rupee spent on war is a rupee not spent on schools, hospitals or rural development. Every drone exported is a gamble that someone, somewhere, will need to bleed. It feeds the bloodthirstiness of the deep state actors. To break the chain, India must act with courage. It must silence the Terroristan that flourishes across the border now to ensure a Viksit Bharat in future. Later, it can slash the bloated defence budget and re-route those funds toward education, health, climate resilience and advanced intelligence networks. Peace does not mean passivity. It means investing in the future, not in the flames of perpetual retaliation. The deep state thrives on endless war. But a confident India does not need to feed it. The question is not whether India can win battles. It already has. The question is whether India can win peace—without selling her soul to those who profit from her pain. Behind the flags and speeches, beneath the uniforms and parades, lies a machine without a face, a system without a conscience—the deep state. Not the fantasy of conspiracy theorists, but a very real confluence of interests: the defence industry, intelligence agencies, political insiders, lobbyists, and private contractors. Their goal is not national security. It is continuity. Stability for themselves; profits for their shareholders; and influence, at any cost. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems are not just corporations. They are policy-shapers, campaign donors, boardroom strategists in the war economy. In 2023, American defence companies spent over $130 million lobbying the US Congress. Why? Because every fighter jet, every missile system, every overseas deployment means revenue. In 2024 alone, Lockheed Martin earned $67.6 billion—most of it from government contracts. War is their business model. The deep state's hidden persuaders don't care who wins—only that no one stops fighting. In West Asia, it armed Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Asia, it eyes Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific with anticipation. In India, it sees the perfect mix: a powerful democracy facing a hostile neighbour, a growing budget, and a taste for strategic autonomy. If any nation truly wants sovereignty, it must unshackle itself from the war economy. That requires not just courage, but clarity to see that those selling the weapons are rarely invested in the outcome. Because for them, war is never a failure. It's the business plan. PRABHU CHAWLA prabhuchawla@ Follow him on X @PrabhuChawla