Daily Times

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Wednesday that the military’s decision to forgo an annual increase in defence budget was “not a favour to the nation”.

“Irrespective of the voluntary cut in defence budget in upcoming financial year, there shall be no impact on our response potential to all types of threat and the quality of life of the soldiers,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted him as saying while speaking to the troops after offering Eidul Fitr prayers.

Gen Bajwa spent Eid with the troops stationed along the Line of Control (LoC). He interacted and exchanged Eid greetings with them. Special prayers were offered for peace, progress and prosperity of the country on the occasion.

The army chief said the best Eid for a soldier was to take pride in defending the motherland even on such festive days away from his family. “Remember, for us, the defenders of Pakistan, our first family is the Pakistani nation, then the ones back home,” he said while addressing the servicemen.

Talking about the military’s decision to forgo a routine increase in military budget, he said “this initiative is not a favour to the nation as we are one, through thick and thin”. “The decision is also only for the officers and not for the soldiers,” Gen Bajwa said.

“We shall manage the shortfall during the fiscal year by tightening our belt in areas where it doesn’t affect the two aforesaid aspect.”

PM praises decision:

In his Twitter message, Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the decision.

PM Khan said that the top brass of Pakistan military decided to make a ‘voluntary initiative’ for not receiving any rise under defence budget.

The premier praised the military troops for its decision. “I appreciate Pakistan military for ‘unprecedented voluntary initiative of stringent cuts in their defence expenditures for next fiscal year because of our critical financial situation, despite multiple security challenges.”

The premier announced to spend the saved money for the development of merged tribal areas and specifically Balochistan. Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, termed the move an example of strong civil-military coordination to take out the country from severe crisis in term of governance and economy.

“Not a small step at all, only a strong civil-military coordination can rescue Pakistan from the deep problems of governance and economy … shows a complete trust on the leadership of PM by an important institution,” the minister said in his Twitter message.

Agencies

Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor in his twitter stated that voluntary cuts in the defence budget for next fiscal year would not be at the cost of defence and security. “Voluntary cut in defence budget for a year will not be at the cost of defence and security. We shall maintain effective response potential to all threats faced by the country. Three services will manage impact of the cut through appropriate internal measures. It was imp to participate in dev of tribal areas and Balochistan.”