Gen Sharif wants more money for his men

• Army chief meets finance minister, seeks 15 to 20 per cent increase in upcoming defence budget
• Dar assures Sharif govt will meet all of army’s defence needs
• Nawaz takes notice of Khawaja Asif’s ‘operation in March’ statement

In face of an imminent operation in the militancy-infested tribal areas, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Saturday called on Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and sought an increase of up to 20 per cent in the defence budget for the coming fiscal year 2014-15.

Dar and Gen Sharif discussed issues related to the defence budget for the coming fiscal year 2014-15 in view of the armed forces increasing needs to ensure the country’s security. The finance minister assured the COAS that the government would meet all the needs of the armed forces with special focus on maintaining internal security.

A source said that the defence budget for 2014-15 was expected to rise by 15 to 20 percent and is likely to exceed over Rs 700 billion. The defence budget in the current fiscal year was Rs 625 billion and it is exempted from any deductions. The government had announced to deduct 30 percent of its expenditures from other ministries.

PM ANNOYED AT ASIF’S STATEMENT:

Meanwhile, a private TV channel reported that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had taken notice of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent statement in which he had said that the government would launch a full-fledged operation against the Taliban if security forces or civilians continue to get targeted in terrorist attacks.

According to the channel, Nawaz wanted to resolve the problem with dialogue and was considering imposing restriction on his ministers and party leaders from making statements on the standoff with the Taliban.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday had told a foreign news agency that the government would not hesitate to bomb militant hideouts or send forces into the tribal areas if the Taliban did not abide by the ceasefire announced last weekend.

“It will not take months now, we will have to march in the month of March,” Asif had said in the interview with a British news agency, describing the government’s response if insurgents persisted in their attacks despite the ceasefire.

“If there is a ceasefire, it has to be complete. Without that, we just cannot afford to have talks with the Taliban,” the minister had added.

ARMY TALKS:

The army had quashed on Friday the talk of its involvement in peace talks with terrorists as its top brass reportedly observed that holding the dialogue was a government initiative.

The 170th corps commanders’ conference — a monthly feature at the General Headquarters — took place as the government prepared for the second stage of the dialogue with militants in which it is planning to open a direct channel with the Taliban from next week. Media had speculated that the government wanted army representation in the team that would negotiate with leaders of outlawed TTP.

A source privy to the corps commanders’ meeting said that during the deliberations there was no direct reference to the reported desire of the government for including a military nominee in its team, because no such proposal had been conveyed by the political leadership to the military command.

But an observation by the generals who took stock of the planned phase-II of the government-military dialogue that “dialogue was a government strategy” served to convey that the army was not interested in any such role.

Furthermore, the commanders are said to have “expressed deep concern” over the continuation of attacks by various militant groups despite announcement of suspension of violence for a month by their umbrella organisation – TTP.