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fashion. They operate politically, militarily, financially
and ideologically."
"It is not lost on us, however,
that terrorism, whilst needs to be suppressed, also
has to be grappled with, on a political platform",
he said.
President Rajapaksa said: "No
country could sustain itself and flourish without addressing
the need to maintain security and no country could afford
to limit their resolve to the eradication of terrorism
to a mere subset of national security. Terrorism anywhere
is terrorism and is a global menace. Unless we act collectively
as a region, trans-border terrorist groups will find
safe havens in other parts of the region. Modern day
terrorists operate in a multi-dimensional fashion. They
operate politically, militarily, financially and ideologically.
Therefore, our effort to curb this
menace should also be multi-pronged and sustained and
far reaching, and must include their sources of sustenance.
We need to implement the provisions of the international
agreements on terrorism related matters with zest and
enthusiasm. The recent air attack at Katunayake by the
LTTE must attract the attention of all of us to the
fact that our region as a whole is not safe from the
barbaric terrorist groups. I wish to appeal to this
august forum to work jointly on a counter-terrorism
strategy for our entire region to defeat terrorism.
My Government has great emphasis
on eradicating terrorism and making Sri Lanka a safe
place for our people. It is not lost on us, however,
that terrorism, whilst needs to be suppressed, also
has to be grappled with, on a political platform.
Here
is the text of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's address
to the opening session of the 14th Summit of the South
Asian Association of Regional Cooperation at New Delhi
today.
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