Published 13:35 IST, February 18th 2020
Bernie Sanders cites India in list shaming massive US military expenditure
Bernie Sanders said that the United States’ military budget is larger than 11 listed countries combined including India, China, and Saudi Arabia among others.
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Democratic primary Bernie Sanders cited India in a list of countries’ military expenditure to reiterate his call on cutting down on military budget and divert it for other welfare programmes. Sanders, who has been a vocal critique of the massive military expenditure of the United States, listed a number of countries to highlight the issue.
The 78-year-old Democrat said that the United States’ military budget is larger than 11 listed countries combined including India, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kindom, and France among others. According to Sanders’ tweet, while India’s military budget stands at $60 billion, China spends $181 billion, more than triple the amount of India’s military expenditure.
Our military is larger than these countries combined:
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 17, 2020
🇨🇳 181 billion
🇸🇦 78 billion
🇷🇺 61 billion
🇮🇳 60 billion
🇬🇧 54 billion
🇫🇷 52 billion
🇯🇵 48 billion
🇩🇪 48 billion
🇰🇷 39 billion
🇧🇷 27 billion
🇮🇹 27 billion
What if we invested in human needs to care for one another instead?
Sanders pledge for elections
Sanders, the Democratic primary’s early front-runner, has continuously been advocating for the reduction in US military expenditure and a change in “national priorities”. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections, Sanders called for diverting the money towards housing, education, and healthcare to reduce inequality.
Social media was divided on Sanders’ suggestion and many Twitter users pointed out that military spending is one of the reasons that the United States is a ‘superpower’. A user commented that such proposals will never help him to become the President. Check out the reactions:
Then China's military would be the largest in the world and we would be at the mercy of Xi Jinping
— Will Chamberlain 🇺🇸 (@willchamberlain) February 18, 2020
The price you have to pay to be the leading nation. Without the US the world would be full of anarchy.
— Alex Blank (@realAlexBlank) February 17, 2020
What if other countries stopped outsourcing their national security to the United States?
— Amelia (@AmeliaHammy) February 17, 2020
13:35 IST, February 18th 2020