Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged Sunday to help Pakistan "break the chain of terror" after holding talks with President Asif Ali Zardari on security in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
Brown's visit to Islamabad was the last leg of a tour of South Asia aimed at calming tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, which have been running high since the attacks last month which left 172 dead.
He said Britain would work with the government in Islamabad to ensure that terrorists were denied safe havens in Pakistan, pledging six million pounds to help it tackle militancy.
"Through these measures we hope to do more to break the chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world," Brown told reporters with Zardari at his side.
The PM stressed that terrorism was a global problem and said three-quarters of the most serious terror plots investigated by British authorities had links to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
Earlier in New Delhi, he met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss security in the region after the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on "elements" in Pakistan.
Brown said his meeting with Zardari had reassured him of Pakistan's determination to act against those responsible for what he called a "human tragedy on a terrible scale."
He also stressed that Pakistan was itself a victim of terrorism, having suffered 50 suicide attacks this year alone.
"We have to help Pakistan to root out terrorism in its own country... all of us suffer when terrorists are active and are able to impose their will," said Brown.
At least one British national died in last month's attacks on India's financial centre, and Brown said he had asked Zardari to allow British police to question Pakistani suspects.
"I asked Manmohan Singh this morning if he would allow the British police, if they chose to so do, to interview the person arrested as one of the suspects... I have similarly asked President Zardari," he said.
"We all have an interest in discovering what lies behind the Mumbai outrages."
Pakistan has arrested a number of suspected militants in the wake of the attacks, including two leaders of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, while the lone surviving gunman, a Pakistani national, is being held in India.
Brown, who left Pakistan after the press conference, met Zardari hours after Islamabad said India had twice violated Pakistani air space on Saturday, drawing a swift denial from New Delhi.
Zardari sought Sunday to downplay the incident, saying the Indian fighter jets only "slightly entered Pakistani soil."
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain, and relations have plummeted in the wake of the devastating Mumbai assault.
India has ruled out military action but on Sunday, Singh said relations with Pakistan could only be normalised when it no longer provided safe havens for militants.
"Our desire to normalise relations with our neighbour will not get fulfilled until our neighbour prevents its land from being used for terrorist activities against India," he said at an election rally in disputed Kashmir.
"There are some people in Pakistan who are always ready to carry out such attacks against our country."
Pakistan has arrested key leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and shut down a charity accused of being a front for the group, freezing its assets and detaining dozens of members.
But it says it will not hand over any suspects to India, saying New Delhi has not yet provided any evidence implicating Pakistanis in the attacks.
Source: AFP European Edition
