Pakistani military’s chief spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday said that the Indian media was busy interpreting Pakistan’s internal defence budgeting choice news with its own twisted understanding of the affair.
“They are trying to give it a different colour to please their public so that they may forget the past embarrassment. Don’t forget, we were the same forces with the same budget on 27 Feb 19,” the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a message posted on Twitter.
The ISPR DG further stated: “We have the capability and capacity to respond. Remember, it’s not budgeting, it’s the resolve of force & the nation firmly standing behind its forces.”
The Pakistani military on Wednesday announced that they are voluntarily cutting defence budget for the next fiscal year in an effort to allow the already exhausted economy to take a breath.
The ISPR DG, however, clarified that this step won’t have any adverse effect on the country’s security.
“We shall maintain effective response potential to all threats,” he tweeted. “[The] Three services will manage the impact of the cut through appropriate internal measures,” Ghafoor said that the cuts were necessary as money had to be routed to developmental projects in tribal areas and Balochistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the military’s decision in a tweet late on Tuesday.
“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,” he said. “My govt will spend this money saved on development of merged tribal areas & Balochistan.”