ISLAMABAD – Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told a private TV channel on Sunday that the usage of funds in civilian departments should be streamlined instead of criticising the defence budget.
Abbas said that misleading propaganda was being spread under well-planned conspiracies about the expenses of the army. The conspirators were saying that the defence funds could be used for the prosperity of the country, he said.
Abbas said the army performed its duties according to government policy and ascertaining the size of the army was also the government’s job. The army had to prepare itself according to the defence capabilities of the enemy, he said, adding that no army in the world could disclose its development budget to the public.
He said if the civilian government thought it could diminish threats by negotiation with India, then a reduction in the army’s size could take place. Abbas said that several agencies from “enemy countries” had been working to create a gap between the army and the people.
Anti-Pakistan elements were trying to prove that the army was a burden on national development by criticising the armed forces, he added.
