Pakistan Army Chief Wants Countrymen To Throw?

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 26, Jul 2023, 18:05 pm IST | UPDATED: 26, Jul 2023, 18:06 pm IST

New Delhi: Pakistan is facing a severe financial crisis and has been almost dependent on financial assistance from global lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While the Pakistan government managed to pull off the IMD deal after many delays, the country's Army Chief Syed Asim Munir said on Monday to end dependence on foreign loans. Munir emphasised that Pakistanis need to make the country self-reliant. While addressing the opening ceremony of Khanewal Model Agriculture Farm on Monday, the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan said, “Pakistanis are a proud, zealous and talented nation. All Pakistanis must throw out the beggar's bowl.

Munir also said that Allah is Almighty and no power in the world can stop Pakistan's progress. He said that a country is just like a mother and that relationships between people should be of love and respect. He said that security and economy are related to each other and are necessary for each other. General Munir promised that the army would not rest until Pakistan came out of the present crisis.

This is not the first time that the Pakistan army has hinted at its role in the country's economy. Last week, the Pakistan army vowed to provide all-out support to the government for the ‘economic revival’ of the country. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir presided over the 258th Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) held at GHQ on July 17 where the forum discussed the Government’s economic revival plan and the role of the Army in uplifting agriculture, IT, mining & mineral and defence production sectors under the ambit of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

The Economic Revival Plan was unveiled during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Chief Ministers, Federal and Provincial Ministers and high-level government officials. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had recently said that Pakistan has received an additional $600 million loan from China to increase the country's foreign exchange reserves based on the IMF deal. According to the report, the Pakistani government's debt increased to $2.44 billion in July, including China's non-guaranteed debt of $2.07 billion.