Pakistan is facing a massive financial crisis and mounting debt. As per recent intelligence reports obtained by EurAsian Times, the Pakistan Army has now called off all military exercises until December as it “ran out of fuel”.
The Director General of Military Training of Pakistan Army has sent a letter to all field formations and headquarters to suspend all war exercises and scheduled military drills until December citing ‘shortage of reserve fuel and essential lubricants’ as the primary reason.
The reserve fuel in military terms is not the war reserves. The reserve stores mean the fuel reserves armed forces have for internal military exercises and war drills. Contrary to these reserves, the war reserves mean weaponry and fuel reserves kept for a specific period of warfare.
Quoting Colonel Danvir Singh (Retired), an expert on Pakistan Army-related matters, EurAsian Times noted, “A Pakistani T-80 tank consumes two litres per kilometre. That is why Pakistan has suspended all the armoured and mechanized exercises.” He added, “It is the science of cost-economy which we as young army officers of the Indian Army had also felt during the early 90s when the Indian economy was in tatters and had to mortgage gold to revive the economy.”
While comparing the present state with the early 90s of the Indian Army, he said, “For about two years, we had trained without tanks and instead used one ton (truck) to simulate armoured columns. Soldiers were not allowed to fire ammunition during the practice sessions.”
Col Singh pointed out that one of the main reasons behind Pakistan going into a ceasefire agreement with India in 2021 was the financial crisis. He said, “Why do you think Pakistan Army agreed to the ceasefire agreement with India in February 2021? It was largely because of the financial cost, simple. An artillery shell costs around six lacs while ammunition of a .12 bore weapon costs no less than 500 bucks.”
Before the ceasefire, there were reports of bombing from the Indian side on Pakistani Army posts and terror launch pads along LoC with artillery, rockets, static tanks, mortars and ATGMs. Unable to retaliate, Pakistan Army had to show a ‘white flag’ requesting peace and to take away the dead bodies of the Pakistani soldiers, EurAsian Times reported.
The financial condition of the neighbouring country is so dire that despite getting off the FATF Grey List and securing a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan has failed to come out of the crisis. Furthermore, the political instability that got worse with the arrest of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on 9th May is proving a massive hurdle in improving the financial condition.
Following the arrest of Khan, Pakistan witnessed massive protests against high-ranking military officials. Army establishments including headquarters and cantonments were attacked by the people.
The fuel prices have reached PKR 262 per litre for petrol and diesel. One litre of kerosene oil has reached a record PKR 164. The Pakistani Army is reportedly finding it difficult to procure the required reserve fuel and lubricants essential for operating a large fleet of tanks, trucks, and armored vehicles. Earlier this year, Pakistan Army reportedly expressed concerns over the shortage of basic food items in all the messes.
The situation in the neighbouring country has kept getting worse with high inflation rates leading to a scarcity of items needed for daily needs. From high prices of flour to tomatoes, the price of everything has skyrocketed. Its impact was seen during the violent attack on military establishments and high-rank officials when the general public looted food items like Korma, strawberries and cold drinks from their houses.
Pakistan is on the path to becoming the fourth largest IMF borrower in the world after it received a nod for a fresh loan of USD 3 billion that the country would get in the next nine months.
Pakistan Army did cost-cutting in 2022
This is the second time the Pakistan Army had to restore to take measures to put the training of the soldiers online. In 2022, it announced a “dry day” every Friday. In those days, Army personnel were not allowed to use military vehicles apart from emergency services. The defense budget of the country was also reduced to 16% in FY 2022-23 compared to 20% in FY 2021-22. The Army officials had instructed to stop war drills in remote areas as a measure of cost-cutting.
