The Arms Control and Disarmament Centre (ACDC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) hosted an in-house virtual meeting to celebrate the Defense Day of Pakistan under the theme the “Impregnable Defense of Pakistan (ناقابلِ تسخیر دفاععِ پاکستان)” on September 6, 2021. The celebration was attended by the entire ISSI research faculty and moderated by Malik Qasim Mustafa, Director ACDC-ISSI. The occasion commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran and the playing of the national anthem.
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اے راہ حق کے شہیدوں وفا کی تصویرو
تمہیں وطن کی ہوائیں سلام
کہتی ہیں
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In his introductory remarks, Malik Qasim Mustafa, Director, ACDC-ISSI said that the immense hard work, dedication and passion over the years have empowered the Armed Forces of Pakistan to stand like an Iron wall against threats.
Ms Ghazala Yasmin Jalil, Research Fellow ACDC-ISSI, provided a comprehensive overview of Pakistan’s defence capabilities in a special presentation. She said that Pakistan has the sixth-largest armed forces in the world. The active strength is 654, 800 personnel. The total strength of the Army, Navy and Air Force is 560,000, 21,800 and 70,000 respectively. The number of paramilitary forces is 291,000. She enlightened the participants with a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of Pakistan air, naval and land power. As India is the main threat to Pakistan’s national security, she also provided an all-encompassing comparison between the conventional and nuclear capabilities of Pakistan and India. While referring to John Mearsheimer, she said that between forces of comparable quality and firepower, the attacker will need a force that is three times or larger if it wants to achieve a breakthrough or success. However, in the case of India and Pakistan, the ratio is 2:1.
