BUENOS AIRES: Brazil's recent increase in defense spending is necessary to protect the country's resources and not a sign of expansionist policies, the country's defense minister said Tuesday.

"Brazil has not started an arms race and has no expansionist intentions," Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said in an interview with Clarin newspaper in Buenos Aires, where he was giving a speech on development and defense.

Jobim said the protection of Brazil's strategic natural resources required a strong defense policy, which has so far included a massive investment in development of an arms industry to improve the Brazilian military's technical capacity.

Jobim said Brazil is well-positioned for the future because of the richness of its natural resources, but be able to protect them.

"We have significant energy resources in terms of hydrocarbons and the sea, we have grain production, the Amazon and part of the Guarani aquifer. The big issues for the future will be energy, water and food," he said.

"The question is one of a deterrent capacity, not imperialism."

The defense minister added that Brazil aims to increase its technological capabilities in the fields of space, nuclear technology and cybertechnology so that "the country can say 'No' when we need to say 'No.'"