Indian PM urges prudence in defense purchases over economic slowdown

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has urged prudence in the country's defense purchases due to economic slowdown, said local media Saturday.

The prime minister told the country's top military brasses on Friday that India's defense budget could be affected in near future due to slowing of economic growth in the past two years, said local daily Indian Express.

"We need to match our investment in military equipment and forces to our national resources... I have no doubt that we will overcome our current economic slowdown, but we will have to exercise prudence in our defense acquisition plans and cut our coat according to our cloth," Singh was quoted as saying when addressing the Combined Commanders Conference in the Indian capital on Friday.

He also said the current strategic shift from the West to East and related "rebalancing" by the United States in the Asia-Pacific region is a development "fraught with uncertainty".

He cautioned it is still not known if the transition would be peaceful or not.

"Just as the economic pendulum is shifting inexorably from West to East, so is the strategic focus, as exemplified by the increasing contestation in the seas to our east and the related ' pivot' or 'rebalancing' by the U.S. in this area. This, to my mind, is a development fraught with uncertainty," he said.

The local daily Times of India said the message given by the prime minister in this speech is that India must strive to develop comprehensive national power to tackle the challenges posed by the shift in global strategic focus towards Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, Singh also cautioned the country's top police brass that terrorists might attempt to disrupt the next general elections due in May 2014 and the assembly polls in some states.

"There is a likelihood of attempts (by terror groups) to disrupt the forthcoming Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) and assembly elections. The security forces need to be careful," the Prime Minister told a gathering of state police chiefs in the Indian capital.

The Prime Minister asked the police chiefs to do the needful to prevent any kind of communal riots.