David Miliband also called for the shuttering of the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and the launch of new era of ``democratic opportunity rather than fear and oppression.''
Miliband's speech in Mumbai _ the site of a November terrorist attack that left 164 dead _ was among the first public remarks from a senior British official criticizing how the battle against terrorism has been conducted since 2001. Miliband wrote an editorial published Thursday in The Guardian newspaper that made a similar argument.
Britain's government hasn't used the phrase ``war on terror'' since 2006 because Miliband said ``the notion is misleading and mistaken.''
``Historians will judge whether it has done more harm than good. But we need to move on to meet the challenges we face,'' he said at the Taj Mahal hotel, one of several sites attacked by militants in the three-day siege.
``Democracies must respond to terrorism by championing the rule of law, not subordinating it,'' he added.
Miliband's speech was a sharp rebuke to the counterterrorism doctrine advocated by President George W. Bush in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, but Miliband has denied suggestions that he timed his remarks to coincide with Bush's final days in office.
Miliband said incoming U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent suggestion that President-elect Barack Obama's government would use a ``smart power'' mix of military might and diplomacy echoed his own thinking.
``The new administration has a set of values that fit very well with the values and priorities I am talking about,'' Miliband was quoted as telling The Guardian.
Earlier this week, Miliband met with India's prime minister, among other senior leaders, to discuss the investigation into the Mumbai attacks. Miliband told reporters he agreed with India's claims that the Pakistani-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, carried out the attack, saying, ``Pakistan has a fundamental responsibility to tackle the roots'' of Lashkar.
But he made clear that he did not back India's claims that the Pakistani state could have been involved in the attack, allegations which have raised tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
On Thursday, he restated his commitment to diplomacy and challenged the West to live up to its own ideals.
``If we want to promote the politics of consent instead of terror and of democratic opportunity rather than fear and oppression, we must up hold our commitments to human rights and civil liberties both at home and abroad,'' he said.
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