AFP, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to reduce the size of its army by 50,000 troops, a spokesman said Wednesday, announcing the first military downsizing in the country's 57-year history.
The decision, which officials said will save millions of dollars annually, was taken at a two-day meeting of top generals chaired by President Pervez Musharraf, a four-star general who heads the army.
“The savings resulting from troop reduction will be used to further upgrade the fighting capability of the army,” Brigadier Fayyaz Ahmed Satti told AFP.
“The savings will be in billions of rupees (millions of dollars).”
Pakistan's army currently has around 550,000 regular troops.
The cuts will take effect from August 1, a military statement said.
Satti said the cut will be applied at the “tail”, meaning those working in administrative and logistical sectors.
The statement said the aim was to make the army “lean but lethal and hard-hitting.”
“It will improve the teeth-to-tail ratio…to allow sizable savings in funds,” it said.
“This reduction in manpower will in no case affect the fighting potential of the army, it will rather transform the army into a more potent force, enhance its response capabilities and result in a fine balance between quality and quantity.”
The decision comes amid improving relations with rival neighbour India since April last year, in a turnaround from the South Asian giants' near confrontation in 2002.
The military has long been accused of eating up more than 60 percent of the national budget to the detriment of health, education and poverty-alleviation spending.
