Article Posted on : - Jun 03, 2012

SINGAPORE (PTI): India Saturday expressed concern about the hike in Chinese military spending, but said it does not perceive Beijing as a threat.

"China has increased their military capabilities and spending more on defence," Defence Minister A K Antony said at a Security Forum here.

"We are concerned over it," he said.

The Defence Minister said "even though we don't believe in an arms race, but in our own way, to protect our national interest, we are also strengthening our capabilities on our borders."

Saying New Delhi favoured stable relations with its neighbour, Antony said the two countries had begun military- to-military cooperation.

"We had contacts at the army level, but of late, we have started extending them to he navies of the two nations," Antony said at the conference where the developments in the South China Sea were in sharp focus.

Like India, Japan also expressed concern over lack of transparency in China's massive defence spending, saying this secrecy posed a threat.

China's military budget jumped over 11 per cent this year to a staggering USD 106 billion.

Favouring peace and stability in the troubled Middle East Region, the Defence Minister said, "India does not believe in solving the ongoing problems in the Middle East through confrontation or destabilisation."

In reply to a questions at the Summit, Antony said New Delhi would like to see that peace and stability prevails in the Middle East.

"Our effort is to develop close relations with countries of the region as nearly 6 million persons of Indian origin live there. Nearly 80 per cent of our energy requirements are sourced from there. Nearly 20 per cent of country's oil supplies come from Saudi Arabia while 12 per cent from Iran," he said.

To a question on Afghanistan, Antony said India was concerned over the situation arising in the after the withdrawal of American troops from there in 2014.

"New Delhi is concerned about the future of Afghanistan especially after 2014. India is helping Kabul to bolster its security apparatus and wishes prosperity and peace to the Afghan people," Antony said, adding that all political process there should be inclusive, transparent and anchored by its own people.

On the sidelines of the summit Antony held bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris and Deputy Defence Minister Lt Gen Hguyben Chi Vinh in the forenoon.