Defence Secretary Lt General (retd) Asif Yasin Malik said on Monday, that the political cell of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was disbanded five years ago and no cell has been operating since,
Speaking at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Malik dispelled all rumours of any operative political cell within the intelligence agency since the past five years.
Malik added that drone attacks by the US were carried out from Shamsi airbase while it was still functioning. These drone attacks were carried out under the governments approval, he said.
The defence secretary also presented details of the budget before the Standing Committee. Regular audits were conducted in all defense related sectors, Malik said.
He told the committee that the defense budget for the current fiscal year was Rs 545 billion out of which, Rs 264 billion had been allocated to the Army, Rs 114 billion to the air force, Rs 52 billion to the Navy and Rs 92 billion to the ISI, the joint staff headquarter, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and defence production.
He added that the United States had paid Pakistan Rs 12 billion since 9/11 and that it had not made any payments to Pakistan over its use of Shamsi airbase.
Speaking at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Malik dispelled all rumours of any operative political cell within the intelligence agency since the past five years.
Malik added that drone attacks by the US were carried out from Shamsi airbase while it was still functioning. These drone attacks were carried out under the governments approval, he said.
The defence secretary also presented details of the budget before the Standing Committee. Regular audits were conducted in all defense related sectors, Malik said.
He told the committee that the defense budget for the current fiscal year was Rs 545 billion out of which, Rs 264 billion had been allocated to the Army, Rs 114 billion to the air force, Rs 52 billion to the Navy and Rs 92 billion to the ISI, the joint staff headquarter, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and defence production.
He added that the United States had paid Pakistan Rs 12 billion since 9/11 and that it had not made any payments to Pakistan over its use of Shamsi airbase.
