Blair set to visit Hyderabad

A floral welcome in Bangalore as Blair looks to defuse India-Pakistan tensions

BANGALORE, India -- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to travel to Hyderabad on Sunday after calling for a more "pivotal role" in the world.

The British leader is then to continue his south Asian tour by arriving in New Delhi for talks with the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Blair has urged South Asia's nuclear powers to use diplomacy to end their standoff

He said the UK should be ready to play a pivotal role in world events and that military action should not be seen as a solution to the current Indian-Pakistan standoff.

Tensions between the two nations has rocketed after a December 13 suicide attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi, which India blames on Pakistan-based militants.

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Both nations have said they do not want conflict but equally both have deployed massive forces along their common border in the disputed Kashmir region.

Blair's South Asia trip was planned ahead of the December 13 attack but that and Kashmir are expected to dominate his time in India and Pakistan.

Speaking in Bangalore to Indian business leaders, Blair said: "One thing is clear -- only politics, not terror, can solve issues like this.

"Terrorism is terrorism wherever it occurs. The indiscriminate and deliberate murder of civilians to cause chaos and mutilation defiles any political cause.

"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. It was an attack on democracy itself."

He has said he wishes to provide a calming influence to the two countries and his Bangalore audience heard that Britain should be ready to influence the world stage.

"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.

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

He said Britons should embrace his vision "with real confidence, resisting nostalgia, refusing to retreat into isolationism."

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Vajpayee met for the first time since December 13 on Saturday at a summit of South Asian leaders.

The pair shook hands after Musharraf said he was "ready to extend the hand of genuine, sincere friendship" prompting hopes that talks to defuse the crisis could begin soon.

Vajpayee responded by saying: "Let us together commence a journey of peace, harmony and progress in South Asia."

India has accused Pakistan of supporting the groups it accuses of carrying out the December 13 attack.

While Islamabad denies the allegations it detained scores of activists on Friday -- some from the militant Kashmir groups India blames for the suicide attack.

Blair is set to visit Pakistan after his trip to India.