Pak to reduce army to make it lean, lethal

Maintaining that recent remarks by President Pervez Musharraf about reducing the size of Pakistan Army by 50,000 was a proposal, Pakistan sa...

Maintaining that recent remarks by President Pervez Musharraf about reducing the size of Pakistan Army by 50,000 was a proposal, Pakistan said today its Army envisaged a ‘‘restructuring plan’’ to reduce manpower in order to make it ‘‘lean, lethal and hard hitting’’.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said: ‘‘The President has made a proposal, gesture and an overture. We need a conventional balance. There has to be proportionality in the forces levels’’ he said adding if there was general reduction, it will have salutary impact all around.

Khan also read out a statement issued by Pakistan Defence spokesman, which said that Pakistan Army envisage plans to restructure the Army to make it more effective. ‘‘The Army’s restructuring plan envisages Pakistan Army to be lean but lethal and hard hitting. It will improve teeth to tail ratio where as tail is being reduced to make sizable savings in manpower and funds. The same is being diverted to enhance Army efficiency,’’ the statement said.

The reduction in size would not effect the fighting potential of the forces, it said. Later in the day, Pakistan announced that it would cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency after the UN nuclear watchdog said it needed to know more from that country in its investigation of Iran’s atomic programme. — (PTI)