New Delhi: Asserting India's military preparedness was purely for self-defence, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on October 12 charged Pakistan with acquiring weapons and blaming New Delhi for trigerring off an arms race in the sub-continent.

"Whatever steps India has been taking, it is for self-defence. We are not in any arms race with anybody. Those who are themselves acquiring weapons are blaming us," Vajpayee told reporters in New Delhi on his return from an eight-day visit to Indonesia and Thailand.

He was responding to a question on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf's recent statement accusing India of trigerring off an arms race in South Asia.

PTI