page_title: Pakistan Armed Forces
section_title: Involvement in Pakistani civil society
hierarchical_section_title: Pakistan Armed Forces / UN peacekeeping forces / Involvement in Pakistani civil society
caption_attribution_description: English: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force International disaster relief activities in Pakistan (2005 Kashmir earthquake) 日本語: 自衛隊パキスタン派遣。パキスタン地震に際しての国際緊急援助活動を行う陸上自衛隊。なお、このファイルは以下のとおり、陸上自衛隊の公式ページにおいて下記ライセンスのもとで公開されていたものです。
context_page_description: The Pakistan Armed Forces are the military forces of Pakistan. They are the sixth largest in the world in terms of active military personnel. The armed forces comprise four main service branches – Army, Navy, Air Force and paramilitary forces and the Strategic Plans Division Force. Chain of command of the military is organised under the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee alongside chiefs of staff of the army, navy, and air force. All of the branches work together during operations and joint missions under the Joint Staff Headquarters.
  Since the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Agreement, the military has had close military relations with China, working jointly to develop the JF-17, the K-8, and other weapons systems. As of 2013, China was the second-largest foreign supplier of military equipment to Pakistan. Both nations also co-operate on development of nuclear and space technology programs. Their armies have a schedule for organising joint military exercises. The military also maintains close relations with the United States, which gave Pakistan major non-NATO ally status in 2004.
context_section_description: According to the views of Russian scholar Anatol Lieven, the Pakistan Armed Forces play a vital role in keeping the Pakistani state together, promoting a spirit of unity and nationhood, and providing a bastion of selfless service to the nation. As an institution, the armed forces have been integrated into Pakistani civil society since the establishment of the country in 1947. The military has been involved in building much of the country's infrastructure (such as dams, bridges, canals, power stations, and energy projects) and civil–military input from all sections of the armed forces has helped to build a stable society and professionalism in the armed forces.
  In times of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, army engineers, medical and logistics personnel, and the armed forces generally have played a major role in rescue, relief, and supply efforts. In 2010, armed forces personnel donated one day of salary for their flood-effected brethren.
  In 1996, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Jehangir Karamat, described the Pakistan Armed Forces' relations with civilian society:
  In my opinion, if we have to repeat of past events then we must understand that Military leaders can pressure only up to a point. Beyond that their own position starts getting undermined because the military is after all a mirror image of the civil society from which it is drawn.
  According to 2012 reports of the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), around 91.1% of civilian infrastructure in the Federally Administered Tribal Area was built by the armed forces in a policy based on sustainable development plans, to improve the livelihood of ordinary people of the region. According to Air Force statistics, the air force conducted approximately 693 relief operations in Pakistan and abroad during the fiscal period 1998–2008. The Air Force carried and distributed thousands of tons of wheat, medicines, emergency shelters, and provided assistance to rehabilitate the disaster-effected areas of the country. 
  During the wave of floods from 2010 to 2014, the Navy and Marines launched relief operations nationwide and provided healthcare, medicines, relief efforts, and coordinated the distribution of food in the flood-effected areas. In the Navy's own admission, it had provided 43,850 kilograms (96,670 lb) of food and relief goods to flood victims; this included 5,700 kg of ready-to-cook food, 1,000 kg of dates and 5,000 kg of food dispatched to Sukkur. The Pakistan Naval Air Arm had air dropped more than 500 kg of food and relief goods in Thal, Ghospur, and Mirpur areas.
  Engineering units of the Navy and Marines built more than 87 houses distributed to the local internally displaced persons (IDPs).  About 69,000 affected IDPs were treated in Navy and Marines medical camps.
caption: Pakistan military troops in relief efforts missions in 2005.
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