NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Wrapping up a tour of three South Asian nations plagued by poverty and terrorism, US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill on Sunday rejected the idea the two were directly linked, but added wealthy nations must help Pakistan, India and Afghanistan deal with both scourges.

After a week in the region that featured a rapid visit to Afghanistan in support of rebuilding efforts and longer stays in the other two countries, the US Treasury chief headed for England to speak to a business group in Manchester on Monday before heading for Washington.

Speaking to reporters before leaving India, O’Neill said he was struck by the South Asian region’s acute need to stimulate economic growth to deal with a growing population.

Collectively, the three countries account for about a third of the people on earth, many of them in rags and jobless.

O’Neill’s apparent intent included demonstrating the Bush administration’s backing for private sector-led development and for better use of Western aid as well as stiffening the fight against money flows to terror groups. He insisted each had equal urgency.

“I don’t think the fact that you are poor causes you to want to go out and kill people you don’t know, it takes more than that,” O’Neill said, adding the challenge was a larger one to try to bring some relief and protection on both fronts.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to say we’ve got to do one and we can’t do the other,” he said.

“We’ve got to do both, in fact we’ve got to do 50 things or a thousand things and the idea that emphasis on one excludes emphasis on the other is just dead wrong.”

Afghanistan was a case study in the region’s acute needs, its citizens living on an average income of less than one dollars a day.

O’Neill stressed U.S. determination to help the shattered country rebuild.—Reuters