Puducherry:
Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Saturday that earmarking Rs 1,47,000 crore for India's defence budget was "absolutely necessary and inevitable" as neighbours like Pakistan did not have a friendly attitude towards the country.
"Had the neighbouring countries been stable, peaceful and were oriented in a friendly manner towards India, our allocation of such a big fund for defence in the budget would not have arisen," he said at a meeting organised by Puducherry PCC as part of the 125th year celebrations of party formation.
Referring to internal security, Chidambaram said the budget for the current fiscal is expected to be Rs 40,000 crores to address the requirements of paramilitary forces and the police.
"Terrorists, divisive forces and Naxals are on the prowl fomenting violence by exploiting and intimidating the poor and have-nots and more particularly the tribal people," he said, adding, allocating such amount becomes necessary "to manage the machinations of these elements.