In line with the current economic conditions, Pakistan’s armed forces voluntarily announced the withdrawal of an anticipated increase in the following budget. Not only that, but an unprecedented decrease in the prevailing allowances was also announced.
The decision not to take the increment was taken to aid the weak economy of the country. Soon after the announcement, Prime Minister Imran acknowledged the decision in a Twitter statement as, “I appreciate Pak Mil’s unprecedented voluntary initiative of stringent cuts in their defense expenditures for next FY because of our critical financial situation, despite multiple security challenges. My govt will spend this money saved on the dev of merged tribal areas & Balochistan”
With the said decision, the expected rise in salaries of the military personnel would be withdrawn. Whereas, travel, daily and other allowances would be reduced. It is said to be decided by a mutual agreement of the officers to support the ongoing financial crisis of the country.
Against this thoughtful decision, Indian media started negative propaganda, which was negated by the DG ISPR, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor. He claimed that the neighbor must not forget that we are the same nation who defended their territory and responded to their aggression with the same budget, earlier in February 2019. He added in his tweet that, “Voluntary cut in the def budget for a year will not be at the cost of def & security. We shall maint effective response potential to all threats. Three services will manage the impact of the cut through appropriate internal measures. It was imp to participate in dev of tribal areas & Bln”
Despite the decision was widely accepted and appreciated, senior government officials believed that our military budget is still significantly less than that of other states in the region and it needs to be expanded. While the DG ISPR added that “Passion and Courage” are more important than the budgets to defend the nation. Government officials also stated this initiative as a historic move of the civil-military relationship.
The United States tops the chart of military expenditure with a budget of 649 billion USD, last year. China stands with around 259 billion USD, Saudi Arabia with 67 .6 billion USD, India with 66.5 billion USD and France with 63.8 billion USD. Pakistan holds the 20th position in the chart with 11.4 billion USD.
