Pakistan Armed Forces

Pakistan Armed Forces
پاکستان مسلح افواج
Inter-Services Emblem of the Pakistan Armed Forces
Inter-Services Flag of the Pakistan Armed Forces
Founded14 August 1947; 77 years ago (1947-08-14)
Service branches Pakistan Army
 Pakistan Navy
 Pakistan Air Force
HeadquartersJoint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ), Rawalpindi Cantonment, Punjab
Websiteispr.gov.pk
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief President Asif Ali Zardari
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif
Defence Secretary Lt Gen(R) Hamood Uz Zaman
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Sahir Shamshad Mirza
Personnel
Military age16–23[1]
ConscriptionNone
Reaching military
age annually		4,525,440
Active personnel660,000[2] (ranked 6th)
Reserve personnel550,000
Deployed personnel Saudi Arabia — 2,600[3]
 Qatar — 650[4]
Expenditure
BudgetUS$10.3 billion (2022)[5]
Percent of GDP2.6% (2022)[5]
Industry
Domestic suppliers
List

Defence industry of Pakistan

Foreign suppliers
List
 China
 Brazil
 Germany
 Egypt
 France
 Iran
 Italy
 Romania
 Russia
 Sweden
 Turkey
 United Kingdom
 United States
Annual exportsUS$416 million (2023)[6]
Related articles
History
RanksArmy ranks and insignia
Naval ranks and insignia
Air Force ranks and insignia
A military parade led contingent of army, followed by the navy and air force, in Shakarparian Hills in Islamabad in 2018.

The Pakistan Armed Forces (Urdu: پاکستان مسلح افواج; pronounced [ˈpɑːkˌɪstaːn mʊˈsəlˌle(ɦ) əfˈwɑːd͡ʒ]) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backed by several paramilitary forces such as the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces.[7] A critical component to the armed forces' structure is the Strategic Plans Division Force, which is responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of Pakistan's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and assets.[8] The President of Pakistan is the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces and the chain of command is organized under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) alongside the respective Chiefs of staffs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.[8] All branches are systemically coordinated during joint operations and missions under the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ).[8]

Since the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Agreement, the Pakistani military has had close relations with China, working jointly to develop the JF-17, the K-8, and various weapons systems. As of 2021, China was the largest foreign supplier of military equipment to Pakistan in major arms.[9] The military cooperation between the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Pakistan have accelerated the pace of joint military exercises, and their increasingly compatible weapons supply chains and network communication systems have accelerated the integration of defense capabilities between the two sides.[10] Both nations also cooperate on the development of their nuclear and space technology programs.[11][12][13] Alongside this, the Pakistani military also maintains relations with the United States in history, which gave Pakistan major non-NATO ally status in 2004. As such, Pakistan procures the bulk of its military equipment from China, the United States and its own domestic suppliers.[14]

The Pakistan Armed Forces were formed in 1947, when Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire.[15] Since then, they have played a decisive role in the modern history of Pakistan, most notably due to fighting major wars with India in 1947–1948, 1965 and 1971. The armed forces have seized control of the government on several occasions, consequently forming what analysts refer to as a deep state referred to as "The Establishment".[15] The need for border management led to the creation of the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces to deal with civil unrest in the North-West, as well as the security of border areas in Punjab and Sindh by paramilitary troops. In 2024, the Pakistan Armed Forces had approximately 660,000 active personnel, excluding 25,000+ personnel in the Strategic Plans Division Forces and 291,000 active personnel in the various paramilitary forces.[16] The military has traditionally had a large pool of volunteers, and therefore conscription has never been brought into effect, although both the Constitution of Pakistan and supplementary legislation allow for conscription in a state of war.[17]

Accounting for 18.3% of national government expenditure in 2021, after interest payments, Pakistan's military absorbs a large part of the country's annual budget.[18] The armed forces are generally highly approved of in Pakistani society.[19][20] As of April 2021, Pakistan was the sixth-largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping efforts, with 4,516 personnel deployed overseas.[21] Other foreign deployments have consisted of Pakistani military personnel serving as military advisers in various African and Arab countries. The Pakistani military has maintained combat divisions and brigade-strength presences in some Arab states during the Arab–Israeli Wars, aided American-led coalition forces in the first Gulf War against Iraq, and actively taken part in the Somali and Bosnian conflicts.

  1. ^ "South Asia :: Pakistan — The World Factbook". un.org. CIA. 16 November 2021. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (25 February 2021). The Military Balance 2021. London: Routledge. p. 290. ISBN 978-1-032-01227-8. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Pakistan silent on Saudi Arabia troop deployment".
  4. ^ "10,000 Saudi soldiers being trained in Pakistan". Middle East Monitor. 19 February 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  6. ^ https://propakistani.pk/2023/07/26/pakistans-weapon-exports-up-over-30x-in-fy23/ [bare URL]
  7. ^ "Inter-Services Public Relations Pakistan". www.ispr.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Blood, Peter R. (1995). Pakistan. Washington D.C.: Diane Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7881-3631-3. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. ^ "China cements its place as Pakistan's largest supplier of major arms: Report". Hindustan Times. 22 April 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  10. ^ "A Threshold Alliance: The China-Pakistan Military Relationship". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  11. ^ "News". BBC News. UK. 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  12. ^ "World". News. CBS. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  13. ^ "South Asia". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  14. ^ Doyle, Rodger (1998). "The Arms trade". Scientific American. Vol. 279, no. 5. p. 29. Bibcode:1998SciAm.279a..29D. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0798-29. PMID 9796545.
  15. ^ a b Singh, R.S.N. (2008). The military factor in Pakistan. New Delhi: Frankfort, IL. ISBN 978-0-9815378-9-4. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  16. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781032780047.
  17. ^ "Pakistan". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Budget in Brief 2020-22" (PDF). Ministry of Finance, Pakistan. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  19. ^ "National Survey of Public Opinion in Pakistan" (PDF). International Republican Institute. 1–22 November 2018. p. 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Army most popular institution in Pakistan: Gallup survey". The Express Tribune. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Troop and Police Contributors". Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.