India's military buildup tops Foreign Policy magazine's list of 10 overlooked events

WASHINGTON: Pakistan's "secret war" - separatist movement in Baluchistan province - and the military build-up by India has been ranked high by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine for events and trends that were overlooked this year, but may be leading the headlines in 2012.

The unique list, released today and topped by India's military build-up, has Euro, Mexico's drug war, US immigration crackdown, expanding wings of piracy, and Rwanda as other events that have missed the spotlight they needed.

"China's new aircraft carrier -- actually just a refitted Gorbachev-era Soviet model purchased for USD 20 million from the Russians -- made international headlines when it began sea trials this year, signalling Beijing's growing military ambitions in East Asia.

"But it isn't the only Asian giant investing heavily in new military hardware.

"India has kept pace with its neighbour to the north and, in some areas, is actually exceeding it -- a development that, though much less noted, is a sign of the growing militarisation of the region as a new generation of emerging powers with global ambitions jockeys for regional supremacy," says the Foreign Policy magazine's 'The Stories You Missed in 2011'.

It said India is now the world's largest weapons importer, according to a 2011 report by arms watchdog SIPRI, accounting for 9 per cent of the world's international arms transfers -- most from Russia -- between 2006 and 2010.

India will spend an estimated USD 80 billion on military modernisation programs by 2015, according to an estimate from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, it said.