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    Sri Lanka, defaulted by China’s debt, will cut one-third of the army, the next number of pauper Pakistan?

    BhagyashreeBy Updated:No Comments3 Mins Read
    Colombo/Islamabad: Sri Lanka, suffering from China’s debt, is forced to compromise on its security. The Sri Lankan government has announced plans to reduce the current size of its military by half by 2030. The government claims that the purpose of this reduction is to create a technically and strategically strong and balanced defense force. The Sri Lankan government has taken this step amid criticism over the allocation for military expenditure in the 2023 budget compared to the amount allocated for health care and education. At present the economic condition of Pakistan is similar to that of Sri Lanka. In such a situation, there is a possibility that if Pakistan goes bankrupt, then either the country will be occupied by the army or it will also have to drastically cut its military expenditure.

    Number of Sri Lankan soldiers will be 1 lakh

    A statement issued by the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said that by the year 2030, the army’s current strength of 200,783 would be reduced to 100,000. The ministry said the number would be capped at 135,000 by next year. The overall objective of the strategic blueprint is to create a technologically and tactically strong and well balanced defense force by 2030 to meet the upcoming security challenges, said a statement quoting state Defense Minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon.

    Rs 539 billion allocated for defense

    Sri Lanka’s defense allocation of Rs 539 billion in the 2023 budget has drawn criticism as Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since 1948. Sri Lanka was unable to afford major imports, including fuel, fertilizers and medicines, due to a shortage of foreign exchange, which led to long queues. An allocation of over Rs 300 billion each has been made in the 2023 budget for health and education. However, since the end of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, the military strength of about 400,000 has been halved. Despite this, the current number of troops of more than 200,000 has also been termed as excessive.

    Sri Lankan President expressed the need for military reform

    Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said last year that military strategy needed to be reformed to prepare Sri Lanka’s military to face new challenges. Tamil minority and rights groups have been calling for military cuts in conflict zones in the northern and eastern provinces.

    Pakistan is also on the verge of bankruptcy

    At the same time, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are at the lowest level since 2014. The situation is so bad that if Pakistan does not get loan from abroad soon, it may be declared bankrupt. Pakistan’s central bank has said that their country has only $430 million left in the name of foreign exchange reserves. Even the installments of the old loan cannot be repaid. Seeing the deteriorating economic condition of the country, Pakistani PM Shahbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir are seeking help from the whole world.

    (with inputs from the agency)

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    Bhagyashree Soni is a software engineer with soft writing skills. She is a degree holder from the International School of Entrepreneurial Leadership. She has been a state-level badminton champion and chess player. A woman with a forthright attitude enjoys her writing passion as her chosen career. Writing in the context of feminism, social cause and entrepreneurship is her forte.

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