India-Pakistan: July 12, 2004

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India's annual defense budget is up to $16.8 billion, and will go higher in order to pay for recent arms purchases. India is already the dominant military power in the region, possessing about twice the combat power of Pakistan, the only neighbor that war is likely with. China is stronger militarily, but the only border it shares with India is high in the Himalayan mountains, where extensive military operations are simply not possible. The border with Pakistan, however, is largely flat and has, for thousands of years, been a traditional invasion route.