PakistaniPatriot
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'Historic' Pakistan Defence Move.
Pakistani Finance Minister Naveed Qamar has revealed the details of his country's defence budget to parliament for the first time in 40 years.
Mr Qamar gave details of financial allocations to members in what was hailed as a "historic moment".
Pakistan's defence budget has been classified since the country went to war with India in 1965.
The military has since kept spending concerns out of the realm of civilians for reasons of national security.
"This is a historic moment," Raza Rabbani, a senior Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader, told parliament.
"The PPP and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) have now fulfilled the promise made in the charter of democracy to present the defence budget before parliament."
According to the two-page document issued in Islamabad, Pakistan's army gets the largest share.
The army accounts for 188bn rupees ($2.80bn) out of a total defence expenditure of 294bn rupees ($4.39bn).
The country's air force gets 71bn rupees ($1.07bn), while the navy gets a comparatively measly 29bn rupees ($432m).
Most of the army's budget is going to be spent on its staff.
The case is similar as far as the air force and navy are concerned.
Operational costs for the two services are listed as 16bn ($238m) and 4bn rupees ($59.56m).
Analysts believe the move to declare the budget will lead to greater accountability in the forces.
But they insist there is still a need for a proper audit of the military's expenses to ensure greater transparency.
The force has been faced allegations in the past of kickbacks over arms sales and alleged misappropriations of funds.