By Musanah Arshad

In the concept of National security, defence becomes the linchpin dominating all other facets shaping states' national interest and hence foreign policy. This is primarily because defence concerns sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state directly and coming to the point, has armed forces as its primary tool of operability. This is the reason why the total world’s military expenditure stood at $1.981 trillion (in 2020) with India being the third largest spender, after the USA (about $750 billion) and China (about $237 billion) only. India’s defence budget in this perspective stood at $ 72. 6 billion (Rs. 5. 94 trillion) with Rs. 1. 63 trillion stipulated to be spent on defence capital outlays-the amount of capital to be spent on defence production/modernization etc., with the utmost focus put forth on indigenization and developing “deterrent capacity to ward off at least two hostile neighbours (with reference to Pakistan and China)," said its Parliamentary Standing Committee in its recent sit-in.

It is pertinent to mention India here as a state posing a continuous offensive posture when it comes to Pakistan, as the latter is facing a two-throng challenge not only from India but its Western border as well due to prevalent protracted social conflict and insurgency turned cross-border terrorism threat that Pakistan  faces from Afghanistan.

What festers the situation even further is this brewing hybrid warfare with such elements as that of TTP or Baloch Raji Ajoi Sanghar (BRAS) or IS-K aggravating the already threatened security matrix of Pakistan. To counter the menace of the threat of terrorism completely, our security officials have conducted 87 Intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in 2022 alone. Taking into account such measurements, we need to think yet again and reconstruct our perceptions and standings when it comes to issues such as that of the defence budget.

Pakistan’s defence budget for FY2023 stood at Rs. 1.52 trillion marking 2.2 % of our GDP. It should also be noted here that this marks a decrease from 2.8% of GDP the previous year. And that too, in contradiction to what is propagated to minds today, does not go the military personnel alone as our defence market and expenditure is segmented into various categories be it our electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems or missile-defence or other ammunition related production or relevant industries involved in military production/procurement for that matter.

For its part, Pakistan's Defence Industrial Complex is making significant contributions to national economy. Alone in the year 2019, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra secured export of JF-17 to Nigeria for $ 184 million and contract finalization of 12 Mashaks to Iraq worth $33.3 million. In last five years alone, an unprecedented boost in the Defence Exports, worth Rs. 60 billion have been witnessed.

Pakistan army has always rendered support and sacrifices for the economic well-being of the nation and its people. MoDP created 8000 jobs in defence production alone together with paying Rs. 6 billion in taxes annually. Indigenous manufacturing of ventilators by NRTC during Covid-19 is emblematic to Pakistan Army’s commitments towards its people.

Hence, it is paramount to consider our choices while taking and divulging into any propagated anti-military narrative. It was through the trust of the nation and professionalism of the armed forces, that Pakistan successfully defeated the menace of terrorism. Undoubtedly, a safe and secure environment provides confidence to investors and boosts the economy of the country. Hence unjustifiably blaming Pakistan Army for the momentary economic downturn is dangerous and threatens to weaken Pakistan’s stature as a strong nation and a regional partner.

It is upon the people of Pakistan to realise that  “if your Army is not there, some other country’s army will be”.

 *Opinions expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of The South Asia Times