Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on June 7 denied that his government's decision not to increase the defence budget was due to external pressure and said that the move to peg the defence expenditure at last year's levels has nothing to do with the improvement of relations with India either.

After the Finance Minister Shoukat Aziz managed to present the budget amid noisy and uproarious scenes in the National Assembly ,Jamali said that for the first time the defence budget has been reduced in actual terms.

The government has allocated little over Rs. 160 billion amounting to 2.76 billion dollars for defence in this year's budget. The allocation was Rs 14 billion more than that of last year's allocation.

Asked why no increase has been made in the defence budget, Jamali said that for the first time in Pakistan's history, the development budget has been taken to the level of the defence budget and everyone must appreciate that. He however said that this would not affect the defence capability of the country.

He said there was no pressure from anyone not to increase the defence budget, nor it has any relevance with the confidence-building measures with India. Aziz also said during his budget speech in Parliament that adequate allocations for defence expenditure would be made as and when it is required.

Referring to the Opposition's agitation against President Pervez Musharraf during presentation of the budget, Jamali said it is for the nation to judge the Opposition's attitude in the Assembly.

PTI