THE INDIAN ECONOMY AND DEFENSE,
Abstract
The environment within which development planning takes place has changed drastically as a result of the recent fighting with Pakistan. This greater demand upon India's scarce resources should have profound implications for the Fourth Plan. Development and defense requirements will unquestionably be competitive in many important respects, the most important of which will be in the demands of foreign exchange; however, they can also be complementary to some extent, with investments for defense contributing to development and vice versa. But to minimize the competitive effects and maximize the complementary effects of defense expenditures calls for very careful review of existing Fourth Plan proposals. India has the resources, as well as the technical, administrative and economic skills in both the public and private sectors to meet the greater demands upon its developing economy that have arisen from the current crisis. What is required is the political will to take advantage of the capabilities that do exist. Without this political will the consequences can be chaotic and dangerous; with it the problems can be met with a minimum dislocation of both the economic development effort and of internal political stability. In fact, the success of the government in meeting these additional demands would contribute both to a higher long-run rate of economic development than otherwise, and to strengthening the public confidence in, and thus the political stability of, the central government.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0624775
Entities
People
- George Rosen
Organizations
- RAND Corporation