Pakistan urged to fight extremism

Mr Miliband said the world was changing faster than ever before

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has urged Pakistan to continue in its efforts to see "terrorism tackled and extremism tackled".

Visiting the country, he told the BBC that young people there wanted to see "enlightened moderation" in politics.

Earlier, Mr Miliband said in a speech that diplomacy must be more about influencing public opinion than just about negotiations behind closed doors.

Increased help for development could also cut the terror threat, he added.

'No question'

Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Pakistani citizens in Pakistan want to see terrorism tackled and extremism tackled.

Concern has been expressed, particularly in Washington, about President Musharraf's ability to control the remote tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan Paul Reynolds World Affairs correspondent Pakistan feels pressure

"And, remember, Pakistani visitors to the UK could easily find themselves caught up in terrorist incident as well - because people who plant bombs in the UK don't discriminate between the race or the religion of the people they affect."

He said he had just returned from a meeting of the Pakistani Youth Parliament, which had urged a policy of "enlightened moderation" but also said it wanted to see extremism tackled.

He told the Pakistani Youth Parliament the world was changing faster than ever before and it was up to the young to take the lead.

Shared interest

BBC News diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said Mr Miliband's comments were the clearest indication yet that the foreign secretary intended, if not a radical shift, at least a change of emphasis in British foreign policy.

That would mean a greater stress on long-term policies for development and reconstruction and less on the blunt instrument of military power, our correspondent added.

Mr Miliband called for co-operation in defeating terrorism after talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who has come under pressure for his policy of backing the US.

The foreign secretary said he had chosen to visit Pakistan on his first overseas mission because of a shared interest in the region's stability.

He went to Afghanistan on Wednesday, meeting President Hamid Karzai to discuss co-operation in the fight against terrorism, as well as the rebuilding of the country.

Mr Miliband said the danger posed by Taleban resurgence was the main reason for the UK to remain in Afghanistan in the long term.