Warning that terrorism has emerged as the "single biggest threat" to development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked Saarc countries to jointly act and battle the scourge with determination.
"Terrorism continues to rear its ugly head," Singh said while addressing the eight-nation Saarc summit here.
Terrorism was high on the agenda of the two-day summit being attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan apart from India.
"We cannot afford to lose the battle against ideologies of hatred," said Singh, who is scheduled to meet Gilani to convey India's concerns over the ISI links in the suicide bomb attack on Indian embassy in Kabul as also the recent ceasefire violations by the Pakistani forces along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh, whose visit here comes close on the heels of the serial blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore and attempts in Surat, described terrorism as the "single biggest threat to development."
"We must act jointly and with determination to fight this scourge," the Prime Minister said.