Arguing strongly against a unipolar world, Putin said in an interview with The Hindu published Friday that differences over the US-led Iraq war had significantly slowed down the global war against terror.

In his interview, coinciding with his arrival in New Delhi, Putin said terrorism could only be solved through multilateral cooperation under the UN auspices and hoped the US had learnt its lessons from Iraq.

"Differences over Iraq, and they were, I would remind you, rather considerable and existed between the leading participants of the international anti-terrorist coalition, led to a significant slowdown of the development of international anti-terrorist interaction," Putin said.

Recalling fears about the sovereignty and security of countries in the wake of the US-led offensive in Iraq - described as the "Iraq model"-- the Russian president said the Iraq developments had proved that unilateral actions were counter-productive.

"We have repeatedly called our American partners' attention to this reality. And eventually they realised the need to reach a political settlement in Iraq using the UN mechanisms. I believe that the new administration will undoubtedly bear in mind 'Iraqi lessons' when determining its foreign policy."

Putin said he had taken the "greatest pleasure" to congratulate US President George W. Bush for his re-election and was convinced that his second term would be fruitful for bilateral ties.

"This does not mean that there are no differences between the US and Russia; however, we resolve them through dialogue taking into account our countries' long-term interests."

It was of crucial importance that the activities aimed at combating "the terrorist international" be reduced to a common denominator.

He said actions taken by the world community to counteract terrorism should start from international law, and be concerted and united.

"I do not think it is possible, in principle, to create a unipolar system of international relations," he asserted, pointing out that interdependence of states and interdependence of national economies was growing.

No single state, even the most powerful one, he continued, could cope alone with terrorism, numerous local conflicts, social diseases and thus was not able to provide global stability and progress.

Answering a question on the "double standards" in the fight against terrorism that both India and Russia have criticised, Putin concurred.

"Providing safe haven and support to terrorists, their accomplices and sponsors actually serves as a justification and, indeed, encouragement of their crimes," he said, citing examples.

"Such steps undermine the unity and mutual trust of the participants of the anti-terrorist front."

He reminded that according to the UN, states were obliged to verify, when providing asylum, that the person in question was not related to terrorism.

"However, somebody influenced by stereotypes or - which is particularly dangerous - hoping to get questionable political dividends, prefers to turn a blind eye to apparent facts."

Putin said India-Russia relations should not be affected by changes in government.

"I would like to stress that the current level of Russian-Indian partnership cannot and should not depend on internal transformations, which are quite natural to democratic states," he stated.

"Our countries are already interacting along a clear-cut line, and all the leading political actors of India, including, certainly, the (Congress), have made a valuable contribution to its development. We have no doubt that the new Indian leadership will continue to pursue that course."

--Indo-Asian News Service