India and Britain on Thursday condemned the menace of global terrorism, saying it stemmed from perverse ideology irrespective of the religion of the perpetrators.

Terrorism has no religion, terrorists have no religion and they are friends of no religion, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with his British counterpart Tony Blair at the end of the latter's two-day visit to India.

Blair described terrorists as a minority who seek to destroy civilized values.

"It arises out of the evil ideology...whether terrorism is in India or Britain, it is always utterly destructive," Blair said.

Blair said there should be no compromise on this global menace.

Vast majority of Muslims abhor terrorism, he said, pointing out that most of the people killed in the recent bomb blast in Egypt, or in Iraq or Afghanistan were Muslims.

Endorsing the British prime minister's views, Singh said a multi-faceted struggle should be launched against terrorism and with maximum cooperation in this regard.

"Education, inter-faith dialogue and the culture of tolerance should be promoted," Singh said.

The scourge of terrorism figured prominently in the Indian prime minister's opening remarks, with Singh saying India and Britain would work together to evolve an international norm for zero tolerance of the menace.

The two prime ministers also discussed issues including India's candidature in the expanded UN Security Council, energy security and bilateral trade relations.

Singh said the two countries had set up a joint economic commission to promote trade and investment, besides a science and innovation commission to explore new high technology areas.

Maintaining that India and Britain had entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership, Singh said Britain had also agreed to cooperate in India's civilian nuclear energy sector and make a collective effort to ensure energy security.

The Indian prime minister said the two sides had also agreed to expand cooperation in new areas like civil aviation by signing a new air services agreement, co-production of films and intellectual property rights.

Source: Xinhua