Observing that terrorism poses the "most serious" threat to the world, India today pressed for "decisive" action by the international community to dismantle the infrastructure of terror groups and end the menace.

Addressing a Summit of 22 Asian countries here on behalf of India, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma emphasised the need for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) which has been pending with the United Nations for long.

"Terrorism continues to be the most serious security threat confronting the international community," Sharma said at the 3rd Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Aisa (CICA).

He said all countries should act decisively to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and to effectively deal with terror groups that have chosen to perpetrate acts of indiscriminate violence.

"The choice before us is stark : We need to decisively act against this menace," said the minister at the meet being attended by world leaders, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"Today, the world is facing non-military threats or non-traditional security challenges such as international terrorism, maritime security, piracy and clandestine proliferation," he said.

He said CICA needs to have the ability to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of security challenges. "We can no longer view security in narrow military terms," he said.

India views CICA as an important player in the development of a cooperative and pluralistic security order in Asia, based on mutual understanding, trust and sovereign equality, Sharma said.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April, had voiced concern on possible nuclear terrorism.

Singh had asked the world community to join hands to "eliminate the risk of sensitive and valuable materials and technologies falling into the hands of terrorists", Sharma said.

CICA is a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

During the Summit, Iraq and Vietnam became members of CICA taking the number to 22. India is part of CICA process since its inception in 1992.