Reduction of Military Expenditure
Expenditure of 200 crores for discrediting Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu
Landmark Decision of Military Chief – Withdrawing from Balochistan
Over-expenditure and Dowry in Afghans marriages
Context of 'August 1994: Private Military Contractor MPRI Brought in by State Dept to Assist Bosnian Muslim Forces'
Military arrests 4 members of the Michoacan Family in Nuevo Leon
Its hard to believe that a country that has failed to provide its citizens with basic necessities like education, food, healthcare and has an infrastructure that is old and crumbling, a country that has little resources and even less money to tap what resources it has will spend 1/4th of its total budget on its military spending. Even harder to believe is that the country has nuclear weapons which is a deterrence to war and thus no need for such absurd spending, This country is Pakistan.
Would you believe that a small country with minimal resources, a rising debt and inflation, and a hungry population has the 7th largest Military in the whole world. Even though Islamabad claims that the need to have a strong military is necessary because of bad blood with India, Pakistan has not had a regular war with India since 1971. With nuclear arsenal and a well structured Air Force, Artillery and Armor the need to maintain an army so large is entirely unnecessary.
The money being pumped into the Military can be used for much needed development projects and poverty aleviation. The simplest way for the disgraced Army to gain much needed respect from the population is to voluntarily reduce the size and number of the military by at least 50%. There is no need to compromise on the security of the nation, the 50% that remains will be more then enough to have a Command structure, Equipment, a well trained Air Force and well equipped Artillery and Armour Corps. The rest of the man power can be had in the form of a volunteer military reserve which can be trained from time to time on the lines of US Army Reserve and be called to serve the nation in times of crisis. Not only will this save a lot of money, gain respect for the military in the country but also create a sense of Patriotism in a people that have lost hope in its defenders.
Author's Note: Although this article has been written with Pakistan in mind, I believe most of the situation to be true for India as well. By reducing the size of the conventional militaries, both countries can gain a lot towards development and infrastructure projects.
