Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that the country's widening divide between rich and poor was a factor that encouraged crime and caused difficulties for police. Singh told a conference of police chiefs in New Delhi that national security was being threatened by an array of challenges, including tension in Occupied Kashmir, a worsening Maoist insurgency and criminal activity.
"Growing economic disparities, and regional, linguistic and ethnic differences" were among the problems faced by police, Singh said. "The growing presence of non-state actors, fundamentalist groups and left-wing extremists has further complicated matters," he added. India's economy has been expanding between about seven and nine percent a year since 2003, with luxury shopping malls and new housing developments springing up in urban areas. However, malnutrition among under-fives stands at 43.5 percent - worse than sub-Saharan Africa - and only nine percentage points less than when India's "economic miracle" began in 1991.
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