From correspondents in Delhi, India, 07:33 PM IST

No nation acting alone can solve the problem of global pandemics like avian flu and regional cooperation to tackle them is a must, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday.

Addressing fresh recruits to the Indian Foreign Service, Manmohan Singh said: 'We are today faced with new challenges ... There is a growing concern about pandemics.

'Disease today knows no national barriers. Avian flu can travel from one country to another and this is yet another aspect of growing inter-dependence of nations.'

The prime minister said that pandemics were 'problems which no nation acting alone can solve and, therefore, we need regional cooperation, we need multilateral cooperation to deal with these new challenges.'

India faced its worst outbreak of avian flu this year, with 13 out of 19 districts in West Bengal and some districts in Tripura affected. Bangladesh has been blamed for the outbreak, as the disease started there before it broke out in India.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)