By Xinhua,
Colombo : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Saturday called on South Asian leaders to redouble their efforts for collective action to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Rajapakse told the inaugural session of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo that no country in the SAARC region has been spared of the curse of terrorism that threatens peace and stability.
“We must ensure strengthening regional legal mechanisms and intensifying intelligence sharing, in order to secure the region’s collective prosperity, peace and stability,” said Rajapakse.
The Sri Lankan president said “terrorism anywhere is terrorism and there are no good terrorists or bad terrorists.”
He said Sri Lanka has seen the benefits of cooperation in combating terrorism and the island country might be able to eradicate terrorism sooner than many once expected.
“My gratitude must go to all our regional partners and our many friends from other quarters that have cooperated with us in this matter,” the president stressed.
The Sri Lankan government is currently fighting a fierce battle against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north, with the aim of totally crushing the organization in no more than one year.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinha-majority government, the LTTE has been fighting against the government since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.
Combating terrorism is on top of the agenda in the ongoing 15thSAARC summit which also focuses on climate change, food security and energy.
The SAARC, comprising eight countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was established in December 1985 with the aim of promoting economic and trade cooperation in the region.