COMPARISONS of the Indian budget with ours are natural. But unfounded. True, it is not entirely an apples-and-oranges thing, both countries being poor, south Asian neighbours. But differences in scale, history and consequent economic geography make for different priorities and different dynamics. The initial reaction of the Indian masses to the whole thing, however, was similar to the one shown here to our own budget. Is there a universality to decrying any and all budgets or is this a peculiarly sub-continental affliction? To be fair to the Congress-led UPA government, the resentment of the masses is unfounded. That of big business, however, might be understandable, if not entirely justified. In the wake of the global financial recession, old time Indian banks, for instance (intransigent to some and stable to others), came out in a good light. Not for the faint-hearted the flashy new, high-yield banks of Shining India. It was this climate that has made left-leaning budgets much in vogue the world over, India being no exception, specially with centre-left Congress in power. One that is facing the (farther) left in a square-off in the Bengal state elections soon. As opposed to the Republican (and PMLs) style BJP, Congress did not appease big businesses as much as it favoured subsidies and job creation. The government wants to create 12 million more jobs and it also wants to halve poverty by 2014. It is that commitment to fight poverty that makes the increase in defence budget, which is now up to a total of $ 29.3 billion, seem misplaced. If the Indians feel that their defence profile is, given the country's vast size, far more different than that of Pakistan, so be it. But it cannot be denied that this increase in military spending is going to make all neighbours antsy. True, terrorism is a major concern but, as Pakistan is finding out, fighting terrorism will require investing in the police, not the army; the latter is already well-equipped and well-fed. The Indian government has deviated substantially from its fiscal responsibility and debt management legislation; it is going to borrow a record Rs 4.51 trillion. This deviation, necessitated it says, by the precarious economic conditions, would have been far less if it had seen the light in the guns-versus-butter debate. A decision like this drags the developmental spending profile of the whole region down and emboldens advocates for our uniformed shopaholics.