President Pervez Musharraf [Images] Thursday said Pakistan would not compromise on its nuclear deterrence capability and claimed the world was "astounded" by the test firing of the Babur cruise missile in 2005.

"We are not into an arms race, but we have to maintain the strategy of defensive deterrence and cannot compromise on that. We will guard our defence jealously," he said inaugurating the Centres of Excellence in Science and Advanced Technology in Islamabad.

To this end, the government would continue to develop and equip the armed forces with necessary weapons and equipment, he said adding, the design of cruise missile Babur had astounded the world as it had a sophisticated system that incorporates technologies that have so far been in the control of three or four most advanced nations.

"It has all been done indigenously without any outside assistance," he said.

After test-firing of Babur in August 2005, Pakistan's defence officials claimed that the missile was developed to counter Brahmos cruise missile developed jointly by Russia [Images] and India.

Pakistan claimed that the missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads could hit targets in the range of 500 km.

Expressing satisfaction over the successes in the development of strategic assets, Musharraf said, "In the last six years, the country has achieved far more than what was even planned in the past."