India, May 3 -- The evolution of Pakistan's defence financing over the last decade reveals a calculated strategy to maintain military parity and modernization despite a collapsing domestic economy and the stringent oversight of international lenders. Data and official records accessed by this newspaper show that since 2016, the defence budget has undergone a massive nominal expansion, rising from approximately 1.08 trillion PKR to an unprecedented 2.55 trillion PKR (approximately $9 billion) for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. This doubling of the budget in local currency terms, marked by a sharp 20% year-on-year hike following regional military standoffs in mid-2025, is often obscured by the rapid devaluation of the rupee, yet it represents a...