The home secretary has made the case for greater pre-emptive protection against terrorism.

On the first full day of a visit to India, David Blunkett warned that punishment can no longer be used against terrorists who are prepared to lose their own lives.

Addressing the British Council in New Delhi on "Globalisation in an interdependent world" he said that, within the limits of democracy, security services must be given the authority to use preventative powers.

Pushing at the boundaries of civil liberties debates, Blunkett said the balance between freedoms and restrictions may have to be taken further in the direction of pre-emption in response to new terrorist threats.

The move could be interpreted as the latest stage in his campaign to introduce ID cards and other anti-terrorist powers, against the wishes of Cabinet colleagues who have raised civil liberties objections.

Ahead of his speech he said all countries faced the challenge of keeping its citizens safe without impinging too far upon their rights.

But he added that following globalisation and the September 11 attacks in America, security strategies need to be re-thought.

"Our enemies who would seek to undermine and destroy our way of life are also operating in a new, globalised world," he said.

"Groups connected together in a way not seen before - the informal and loose networks of al Qaeda - are able to exploit technology, use sophisticated communication, financial networks, and the ability to take advantage of democracy itself, to destroy democracy.

"Modern civilised values are their target and our civilised values are used as the Achilles heel to destroy us.

"The challenge in the UK, as in India, is to find the right balance between security and freedom."

This will mean focusing more on prevention as opposed to "prosecuting after the event" the home secretary argued.

"For suicide bombers, for international terrorists, with whom you cannot negotiate and for whom prosecution and punishment hold no sway, the threat of tough penalties after the fact are simply not enough," he said.

"Of course, in such circumstances 'intelligence' is our best security.

"But if we know there is a threat, and we are aware that in even the best operations constant surveillance cannot guarantee intervention at the exact moment of terrorist attack, we need to be able to ensure that we can continue to protect ourselves from the conspiracy to act.

"In such circumstances the evidential thresholds for action have to be acceptable in a democracy, but they must also allow us the means to disrupt and prevent terrorist acts."

Blunkett was met with Indian deputy prime minister Advani on Friday and agreed on new arrangements on for returning Indian immigration offenders.

He was then set to travel to Punjab for the weekend before moving on to Pakistan on Monday where he will also hold meetings with senior ministers.

Before departing the Cabinet minister said he hoped the visit "will help build on the very good existing co-operation between our countries across a range of issues".

"I am also looking forward to learning more about two countries with which a significant number of UK citizens have such close ties," he added.