Thursday, November 3 2005 10:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States is working closely with India and other countries to fight terrorism, a global scourge which transcends borders and religions, the State Department has said.

Commenting on the weekend bombings in New Delhi, which killed 59 persons and injured nearly 200 others, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "Terrorism doesn't know any borders. It doesn't respect any religion.

"We mourn the loss of life in India, just as we mourn the loss of life in Indonesia, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in England, in Spain, in the United States." "So terrorism certainly is not limited to one country; it's a global scourge that we work closely with India as well as other governments to fight", he told reporters yesterday.

Asked what was the status of the multi-billion-dollar F-16 fighter plane deal with Pakistan in the wake of the killer quake in that country, he said it was upto the Pakistan government to take a decision on this issue.

"In terms of the issues of F-16s, the decision to whether to move forward and in what way to move forward is going to be one from the Pakistan government to make," he said.

President Pervez Musharraf had last week made it clear that Pakistan was not contemplating any defence cut after the quake as it considers security requirements a separate issue.

"We don't want to do one and jeopardise the other, that would be most unwise," he had said.