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Growth spurs Asia's military modernization
Unprecedented economic growth in Asia has spurred military modernization in most of the regionâs countries where they are competing to boost their army, navy and air force capabilities, but it has not yet reached an alarming level, an analyst said
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nprecedentedeconomic growth in Asia has spurred military modernization in most of theregion's countries where they are competing to boost their army, navy and airforce capabilities, but it has not yet reached an alarming level, an analystsaid.
China's military spending increased by 175 percent in real terms during the period 2003 to 2012. Spending also increased in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and the Philippines.
Analyst discounted the development as evidence of an arms race. 'It is premature to call it an arms race. There is competition among Asian countries to boost their military power,' Christian Le Meire, a senior fellow at the London-based think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said during a book launching in Singapore on Friday.
However, he underlined that as the struggle for hegemony between the US and China intersects with the overlapping aspirations of emerging, smaller nations 'the risk of escalation to regional conflict is real.'
