The Pakistan army is the 7th largest in the world in terms of military personnel. Over the history of this country, it has more than once become the force that overthrew the democratically elected government and brought to power representatives of its high command.
Pakistan Army: Foundation
After the partition of British India in 1947, this country received 6 tank, as well as 8 artillery and infantry regiments. At the same time, independent India got a much more powerful army. It included 12 tank, 21 infantry and 40 artillery regiments.
In the same year, an Indo-Pakistani war was unleashed. The bone of contention was Kashmir. This area, which in the initial division territorially departed to India, was of crucial importance for Pakistan, as it provided water for its main agricultural region, Punjab. As a result of UN intervention, Kashmir was divided. Pakistan inherited the northwestern regions of this historical principality, and the rest of its territory went to India.
The war for Kashmir showed that the armed forces need nationalization. The fact is that at the time of the acquisition of independence by British India, most of their command personnel were British. After the division, some of them ended up in the army of Pakistan. During the armed conflict, the British officers on both sides did not want to fight against each other, so they sabotaged the execution of the orders of the higher leadership. Seeing the danger in this state of things, the Government of Pakistan did a lot to provide its army with professional personnel from representatives of local tribes and peoples.
History until 1970
In 1954, in Karachi, the United States and Pakistan signed a bilateral agreement on mutual military assistance. As a result of this agreement, as well as a similar document relating to relations with the UK, the country received significant amounts of financial and military assistance.
In 1958, the Pakistani army carried out a bloodless coup, as a result of which General Ayyub Khan came to power. Under his rule, tensions with India continued to grow, and skirmishes on the border became more frequent. Finally, in 1965, the Pakistani army launched Operation Gibraltar, which aimed to capture the Indian part of the former historical province of Kashmir. She turned into a full-scale war. In response to the invasion of its territory, India launched a massive counterattack. It was stopped after UN intervention, the mediation of which led to the signing of the Tashkent Declaration. This document marked the end of the war without any territorial changes on both sides.
War in East Pakistan
In 1969, as a result of the rebellion Ayyub Khan, left his post and transferred power to General Yahya Khan. Along with this, the war for independence began in Bangladesh. On the Benaglis side, India came forward. She led her troops to East Pakistan. As a result, in December 1971, 90,000 soldiers and civil servants surrendered to the Indian army. The war ended with the formation in East Pakistan of a new state called Bangladesh.
1977-1999
In 1977, the army of Pakistan made another coup d'etat, as a result of which the leadership of the country passed to General Muhammad Ziya-ul-Haq. This politician did not fulfill his promise to hold democratic elections within 90 days. Instead, he ruled Pakistan as a military dictator until his death in a 1988 plane crash.
The last armed coup in the history of the country took place in 1999. As a result, the Pakistani army for the fourth time overthrew a democratically elected government, which led to the introduction of economic sanctions against this country. They remained in effect for almost the entire period of General Pervez Musharraf’s reign.
Counterterrorism
After September 11, 2001, Pakistan became an active participant in the elimination of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In particular, the command of the Armed Forces sent 72 thousand soldiers to capture members of these organizations who fled from Afghanistan.
The war against terrorists to this day is one of the main tasks facing the Pakistani army.
Suppression of the uprising in Balochistan
In 2005, the Pakistani army was forced to fight the separatists. They occurred on the territory of Balochistan. He led the rebels Nawab Akbar Bugti, who demanded greater autonomy for the region and compensation for the resources exported from there. In addition, dissatisfaction was caused by insufficient funding for the region. As a result of special operations of Pakistan's special forces, virtually all the leaders of the Baloch were physically destroyed.
Taliban war
The army of Pakistan, the armament of which is presented below, for many years was forced to wage a positional war with an internal enemy. Her opponent was the Taliban. In 2009, the confrontation entered a phase of active offensive, which paid off. The Taliban suffered heavy losses and were forced to leave their fortified forts. The first to be liberated was South Waziristan. Then the fighting for Orakzai began, during which the Taliban lost more than 2,000 militants.
Armaments and strength
As already mentioned, the Pakistan army ranks 7th in the world in the number of soldiers and officers. Its number is approximately 617 thousand people, and about 515 500 are in the personnel reserve.
The armed forces are staffed by volunteers, mainly males who have reached the age of 17 years. There are also female military personnel in the Pakistan Navy and Air Force. Moreover, annually in the country of military age reaches more than 2 million people.
The ground forces of Pakistan use an extensive range of weapons, consisting of 5745 armored vehicles, 3490 tanks, as well as 1,065 self-propelled and 3,197 towed artillery pieces. The country's Navy consists of 11 modern frigates and 8 submarines, while the Air Force has 589 helicopters and 1,531 aircraft in service.
Comparison of the armies of India and Pakistan
The Hindustan Peninsula is one of the most densely populated and militarized places on the planet. Currently, 1,325 thousand people are serving in the regular army of India, that is, almost twice as many as in the army of Pakistan. The T-72, T-55, Vijayant and Arjun tanks are in service. The Air Force fleet is equipped with Su-30MK, MiG-21, MiG-25, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar, MiG-29, Mirage 2000 and Canberra combat aircraft. The Navy has a Hermes aircraft carrier, several submarines, frigates, destroyers, and corvettes. In addition, missile forces are the main striking force of the Indian army.
Thus, Pakistan is inferior to its constant adversary both in the number of weapons and in their power.
Now you know what the Pakistan army is famous for. The parade of the Armed Forces of this country is an extremely interesting and colorful spectacle, which is definitely worth seeing at least in the recording.