President Mahinda Percival Rajapakse delivers the opening speech at the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at the BMICH in Colombo Saturday. Pic by Gemunu Wellage
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the opening session of the 15th SAARC Summit this morning (August 2) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, called on the South Asian leaders attending the summit to commit themselves and their countries to a more determined and concerted effort to collectively combat the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. He emphasized that it is the very interdependence which gave
birth to SAARC that has emerged as the crucial factor for durable peace and the protection of democratic values in the region.
In this regard, President Rajapaksa expressed the need to ensure strengthening regional legal mechanisms and intensifying intelligence sharing, in order to secure the region’s collective prosperity, peace and stability, in combating terrorism. He said it is also necessary that South Asia as a region, endeavour to set right the many wrong impressions that exist, or are promoted elsewhere, about the actions that are imperative to protect our people and societies from the brutalities of terrorism. Terrorism anywhere is terrorism and there are no good terrorists or bad terrorists, he emphasized.
