LAHORE: The government should increase defence budget by curtailing unnecessary non-development expenditure as army is engaged in tackling internal and external security threats to Pakistan. These views were expressed by the speakers at Jang Economic Session on ‘Budget 2015-16 - Is increase in defence budget unavoidable in giving circumstances?’ on Wednesday. The panellists were Dr Salman Shah, Dr Ehsan Malik, Dr Qaias Aslam, Rahat Latif, former IG Altaf Qamar and Aslam Ghuman while the session was hosted by Sikindar Lodhi. Dr Salman Shah said defence budget was only three per cent of GDP while other sectors budget was more than it and a wrong perception about defence budget was created among public. There is no harm to increase defence budget by curtailing non-development budget, he said, claiming the expense of army compared to the armies of other countries was much lower. He believed cost of Chinese project would increase problems. He appreciated the increase in defence production and said the construction of Dhasu Dam should be on priority to control energy crisis. Dr Ehsan Malik said technology improvisation in defence equipment was the need of hour and an increase in defence budget was crucial. He said improvement in law and order would revive economy and investment profile. He said strong defence would boost economic and social activities and improve law and order. Dr Qaias Aslam said an increase in defence budget was unavoidable in existing threats on borders. He said Pakistan army was one of the best armies of the world and popular for its skills. He called for value added economy to improve economy and implementation of equal taxation system across the country to achieve better results. He said if defence tax was introduced, people would pay it happily. Rahat Latif said equipping the army with modern weapons and technology was crucial for economy. He said improving mobile units was also important as army has been engaged in Fata operation for the last 12 years. He said China demanded 20,000 troops to construct the economic corridor and for this purpose it was important to increase defence budget. Altaf Qamar said Pakistan was located in a region where all big powers were in war for their targets and in this situation army’s requirements should be met. He said army was the only reliable institution in the country. He said an increase in defence budget was vital to meet the army requirements. Aslam Ghuman said an increase in defence budget was not suitable for both India and Pakistan, but security of Pakistan was at stake so an increase in defence budget was unavoidable. He said India did not accept Pakistan and made the Kashmir a controversial issue. He said Kashmir issue was also a reason for increasing the defence budget.
