NEW DELHI, 15 October 2006 — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived back home yesterday evening after a successful six-day tour of Britain and Finland. Manmohan’s talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the first part and with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in the second leg, were dominated by terrorism, Indo-US civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade. He is the first Indian premier to have visited Finland in 20 years.
With Finland currently the head of the 25-member European Union (EU), Manmohan’s Helsinki visit was marked by the seventh India-EU Summit. During his address, Manmohan called on the EU to display “zero tolerance” for terrorism that would send the right signal to those countries directly engaged in terrorism or which were allowing their territories to be used for terrorist activities.
“The recent bombings in Bombay as well as the earlier bombings in London, Madrid and Srinagar reminded us that terrorism remains the most serious threat to democratic, open and pluralistic countries. Strengthening international cooperation in this critical area is of vital importance to all free and democratic societies.”
The visit witnessed India, Britain and Finland — as the EU president — agreeing to increase cooperation against terrorism through sharing of intelligence, information and other measures.
During his discussions with EU leaders, Manmohan also sought their support for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
