Saturday, March 4 2006 19:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: India has no intention of joining an arms race in the sub-continent, but will procure arms according to the country's needs, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today (Mar 04 2006), a day after India clinched a nuclear deal with the US during American President George W Bush's visit.

''We have no territorial ambition, and will not join any arms race, but will procure arms as per requirements for defence preparedness,'' Mukherjee told sources here.

Replying to questions if the Indo-US nuke deal as also Washington's offer of arms would trigger off an arms race in the sub-continent, he replied in the negative, but added that ''India will decide what type of arms and weapons it requires in its defence system.

''At the same time, we ourselves produce missiles, fighter planes and ships, besides importing arms from Russia, France, England and the US too,'' he said.