Amid economic crisis, Sri Lanka to cut military strength by half by 2030

Sri Lanka, hit by an unprecedented economic crisis, on Friday announced that it would drastically slash its military to half its strength by 2030.

The government said it would build a technically and tactically sound and well-balanced defence force to provide national security.

The decision follows mounting criticism that expenditure on the bloated military was more than the allocation for healthcare and education in the 2023 budget.

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The Army’s strength will be reduced to 135,000 by next year and to 100,000 by 2030, down from the current 200,783, the Defence Ministry said.

Why the cut?

The overall aim is to broach a technically and tactically sound and well-balanced defence force by 2030 to meet upcoming security challenges, Defence Minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon was quoted as saying.

The defence allocation of Rs 539 billion in the 2023 budget ignited criticism as Sri Lanka battles its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.

In contrast to what the military got, health and education sectors were allocated over Rs 300 billion each.

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe said last year that military strategy reforms were needed to gear the army to face new challenges.

Military history

Sri Lanka traditionally had a ceremonial army but the situation changed with the 1971 insurrection by the leftist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) and the later Tamil separatist campaign.

By the time the military crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), its numbers had swelled to around 400,000 although it now stands at a little over 200,000.

But experts say even this is a huge number for a country like Sri Lanka, which shares no border with any country and whose nearest neighbor, India, is seen as a friend.

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Tamil groups have repeatedly dismantled numerous military camps in Sri Lanka’s north and east, the former war theatre, and a return of civilian land take-over by the army.