India's Def. policy not for aggression against neighbours: Pranab

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) With India having borne the brunt of Pak-sponsored terrorism for more than two decades, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today asserted that countries ''undemocratic in their orientation'' not only provided safe havens for terrorists but even pursued terrorism ''as part of state policy''.

In a direct reference to Pakistan's role in fomenting anti-India terrorist activities, the Defence Minister pointed to this aspect as being ''an important distinction between the defence and security policies of democracies and autocratic rulers''.

Delivering an address on ''Democracy and Defence Policy'' as part of the Krishan Kant Memorial Lecture -- the third in the annual series -- here, Minister Mukherjee observed that India's Defence policy had always focussed on the country's defence and never contemplated aggression against its neighbours.

He further asserted that democracies were often peceived to be soft or weak because they did nor favour draconian measures and respected tha rule of law. However, ''democracies are inherently strong and tend to promote defence policies which are conducive to their own people and to peace and stability in the world''.

''Democracy influences both the process and the content of defence policy. Thus, in a democratic set up (like India) defence policy is based on a consultative process. Its goals and objectives, as well as many finer details, are often debated in Parliament, the media, by think tanks and during election campaigns. This process ensures a more participative, inclusive and transparent defence policy,''Mr Mukherjee said.

''On the other hand, dictatorial regimes have compulsions to spend large amounts on military, to take care of both domestic instability and regime survival against external intervention.'' He said despite the real threats faced by India, its defence expenditure today was less than 2.5 per cent of the GDP ''which is far less compared to the amount spent on military by some of our neighbours''.

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