by PK Balachandran
The twenty-five year long military conflict between the Tamil insurgents and successive Sri Lankan governments has made Sri Lanka the most militarised country in South Asia. In this respect, Sri Lanka has dwarfed the much larger India and military-ruled Pakistan, says a study conducted by the Mumbai-based Strategic Foresight Group (SFG). Published in January 2006, the SFG monograph says that Sri Lanka will continue to hold this "dubious" position between now and 2010, given the absence of any clear signs that the military conflict is going to taper off, say the researchers, Semu Bhatt and Devika Mistry.
Successive governments and the LTTE are both to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs, as both sides have continually raised the scale and technological sophistication of the war. A major contributory factor in the high militarisation of Sri Lanka has been the nature of the LTTE. In military terms, the LTTE is unmatched in the South Asian region. No other insurgent group here has, or has ever had, the equipment and military capabilities that the LTTE has. No other country has faced the kind of challenges that the LTTE has posed to the Sri Lankan government. Presenting comparative data for 2004, the SFG's report says that Sri Lanka was the most militarised among the South Asian countries with 8,000 military personnel per one million population.
The figures for other South Asian countries were: Pakistan, 4,000; Nepal 2,700; India, 1,300; and Bangladesh 1,000. In terms of military expenditure as percentage of GDP also, Sri Lanka spent the most. The figure was 4.1% in the case of Sri Lanka; 3.5% in the case of Pakistan; 2.5% in the case of India and Nepal; and 1.5% in the case of Bangladesh.
According to the SFG, Sri Lanka's defence expenditure is also higher than other comparable conflict-ridden countries such as Colombia, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Sudan, the Philippines and Uganda. According to Indian army personnel, the Sri Lankan army is well equipped against the LTTE, which is its only target. The 150, 000 man army uses Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers, long range artillery, mortars, battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers. The Navy is much smaller with 20,000 personnel. It uses Fast Attack Craft with 23 mm guns, Inshore and Offshore patrol vessels, landing craft etc. The Air Force uses Kfir supersonic fighter-bombers, MIG-23, and choppers, including MI-24s.
The defence expenditure, which is now about $700 million per annum, could go to about $1 billion, if current plans to increase the size of the armed forces and to give them better equipment and more ammunition are implemented. Aerial bombs and artillery shells cost a lot. "Sampur was captured by 2,000 soldiers, but to hold it, the army needs 20,000," a retired Air Marshal told Hindustan Times.
HT, 23.9.2006