Thursday, September 8 2005 19:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India and Britain today (Sept 8, 2005) condemned the menace of global terrorism saying it stemmed from 'perverse ideology' irrespective of the religion of the perpetrators.

"Terrorism has no religion, terrorists have no religion and they are friends of no religion," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with his British counterpart Tony Blair at the end of his two-day visit to India.

Blair described terrorists as a minority who seek to destroy civilised values. It arised out of the evil ideology. It came from perversion of the true faith of Islam . Whether terrorism is in India or Britain, it is always utterly destructive."

Asserting that Britain was dealing with 'the most extreme fanatical teachings of this kind of perverted Islam', Blair said there should be no compromise on this global menace.

"Vast majority of Muslims abhor terrorism," he said, pointing out that most of the people killed in the recent bomb blast in Egypt or in Iraq or Afghanistan were Muslims.

Endorsing his views, Singh said a multi-faceted struggle should be launched against terrorism and ensure maximum cooperation in this regard.

Education, inter-faith dialogue and the culture of tolerance should be promoted, the Prime Minister said.

In his opening remarks, the scourge of terrorism figured prominently with Singh saying India, which has been a victim of terrorism for more than two decades, and Britain would work together to evolve an international norm for 'zero tolerance' of the menace.

Besides terrorism, both Prime Ministers touched on the issues, including India's candidature in the expanded United Nations Security Council, energy security and bilateral trade relations.

Singh said the two countries had set up a Joint Economic Commission to promote mutual trade and investment, besides a Science and Innovation Commission to explore new high technology areas.

Maintaining that India and the United Kingdom (UK) had entered into a 'comprehensive strategic partnership,' Singh said Britain had also agreed to cooperate in India's civilian nuclear energy sector and make a collective effort to ensure energy security.

The Prime Minister said the two sides had also agreed to expand cooperation in new areas like civil aviation by signing a new air services agreement, co-production of films and intellectual property rights.

He also said a Chair would be set up in the Cambridge University in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru, which would be funded by India. Student exchange programmes at college and university levels were also decided upon.