Blair claims key role for UK

BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, will today claim a pivotal role for Britain in world affairs after the September…

BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, will today claim a pivotal role for Britain in world affairs after the September 11th atrocities, marked by increased co-operation with other nations.

"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," Mr Blair will tell the Confederation of Indian Industry in a keynote speech to the organisation's annual conference in Bangalore. "It is a role we should embrace with real confidence, resisting nostalgia, refusing to retreat into isolationism," he is to say in the speech, copies of which were made available before delivery.

The address includes an implicit defence of further British integration in Europe, and of Britain adopting the euro currency, although neither subject is mentioned explicitly.

Mr Blair will express pride in the role Britain has played since the September 11th attacks on the United States - both diplomatically, in building the alliance against international terrorism, and on the humanitarian front, through the ongoing provision of aid to Afghanistan.

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"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.

But he also underlined the importance of working closely with other nations.

"In today's globally-interdependent world, foreign policy and domestic policy are part of the same thing," he said, hinting at closer European ties to come.

"Proud nations will always guard their sovereignty but the shape of the world today means that self-interest for a nation and the interests of the broader community are no longer in conflict," he added.