Pakistan desperately needs economic reforms, which means reductions in the defence budget. But as the army chief gains more control, the establishment could scuttle such plans
Pakistan’s military, which exercises effective control over the nuclear-armed country, has an enviable tendency to land on its feet even after a crisis. The country may be facing an economic predicament, and recently endured a confrontation with India in which the weaknesses in its defences were laid bare, but the “establishment”, as the euphemism goes, has emerged stronger for it.