'Growing recognition' in Russia,China on need to pool intelligence systems to combat terrorism:PM

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday maintained his tough stance on terrorism and extremism, and said there was a consensus at his top-level discussions in China and Russia to pool intelligence information systems to combat terrorism, which he said was a deterrent to progress.

"Both in Russia and China, I found growing recognition that terrorism is a threat to all the countries of the region and that terrorism and extremism both are enemies of progress, that we must work together, pool our intelligence and information system to deal with this menace," Dr. Singh said onboard Air India One on his return home from Beijing.

Speaking in Beijing earlier today, Dr. Singh emphasized that India and China share common challenges, and said terrorism, extremism and radicalism emanating in the neighbourhood affect both countries directly.

Addressing the Chinese Communist Party's Central Party School in Beijing, Dr. Singh said: "India and China have also benefited from a largely stable global order and peaceful periphery. But, we cannot take a stable political and security environment in our region, and beyond, for granted. If we look carefully, many of our challenges are common.

Terrorism, extremism and radicalism emanating from our neighbourhood affect both of us directly and can create instability across Asia."

On Monday, after the Prime Minister held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, India and Russia reiterated their resolve to defeat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and expressed their intention to make an active contribution to counter fundamentalist violence under the auspices of the United Nations.

The two countries said that in multi-ethnic and democratic societies such as India and the Russian Federation, terrorist acts perpetrated under misleading slogans are in reality attacks on the freedom and democratic values of our societies and are aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of our nations.

The two countries also agreed that terrorist act may have international linkages extending across and beyond the borders, and that states that provide aid, abetment and shelter for such activities are themselves as guilty as the actual perpetrators of terrorism.