Blair offers solidarity against terror

Britain will be a "pivotal player" in the new world order

		By Nyta Mann BBC News Online political correspondent travelling with the prime minister

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has offered his "total solidarity" with India in the wake of recent terrorist attacks on the country's parliament.

He condemned the attacks as he outlined Britain's role as a "force for good" in the world following the 11 September attacks in the United States.

Speaking to business leaders in India, during his diplomatic tour of South Asia, he said Britain was uniquely placed to fulfil the role.

I view an attack on your parliament with every bit as much outrage as I would an attack on the parliament in which I sit

Tony Blair

Ahead of talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee, he also said he would also discuss Kashmir during his trip, following recent tensions between the countries over the disputed province.

Critics have accused the prime minister of being more concerned with acting on the international stage than tackling the domestic agenda.

But in the speech to the Confederation of Indian Industry on Saturday, Mr Blair insisted that the two are inextricably linked.

He said: "Sometimes it is said it is too utopian to think that we can change the world after the events of 11 September.

"If we can't at least try, what is the point of government and politics."

Mr Blair's tour - which will also include talks with Pakistan's President Musharraf - was planned before the recent dramatic escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. But the conflict over Kashmir has inevitably dominated his visit.

Following the recent attack on India's parliament building, which India blames on Kashmir militant groups, Mr Blair offered his solidarity.

Blair will discuss Kashmir at later talks

"The appalling attacks... demonstrate more clearly than ever the threat such fanatics pose not just to your democracy but to all democracies and civilised values in the whole world."

But he insisted that "only politics, not terror, can solve issues like this".

"Terrorism is terrorism wherever it occurs and whoever are its victims," he said.

Kashmir is a sensitive issue - as Mr Blair discovered when he caused a row in the Indian press with his comments that "Pakistan has a very strong position on Kashmir".

Downing Street insists his comments were misinterpreted and he meant that Pakistan was putting its case forcefully.

'Global interdependence'

Another key theme of the speech was what Downing Street describes as his theme of "global interdependence".

The prime minister praised Britain's role in the military and humanitarian international response to the 11 September attacks, that toppled the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

"In today's globally interdependent world, foreign policy and domestic policy are part of the same thing," he said.

It is hoped the tour could be a "calming influence"

Fighting international terrorism abroad "is not just right in itself, it is vital to our economy, our jobs, our stability, our security".

"We do not have an empire. We are not a superpower. But we do have a role and in playing it properly we benefit Britain and the wider world.

"That role is to be a pivotal player."

Downing Street has repeatedly stressed that Mr Blair is undertaking his South Asia tour with no blueprint for peace, but to use it to act as a "calming influence".

Mr Vajpayee and President Musharraf of Pakistan are currently in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, for a regional summit, but both sides say they will not use the meeting for face-to-face talks.