President calls for unity to battle regional terrorism
SAARC Parliamentarians’ conclave proposed:
Calls for upholding sovereignty:
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called upon SAARC not to
hesitate to build new structures and mechanisms to enable it to reach
its full potential.
Addressing the 16th South Asian Regional Summit in Thimphu, Bhutan
the President said “ Let us within our own grouping be bold enough to
introspect. We must take measures to improve the existing mechanisms,
through review, rationalisation and reinvigoration”.
He called for a common South Asian voice in issues of climate change,
with those who historically contributed to climate change now sharing
the burden of mitigating it.
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Heads of states at the conclusion of
the 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu, Bhutan. - Pic: Sudath
Silva |
President Rajapaksa appealed to his SAARC counterparts for continued
cooperation in the battle against terrorism; taking economic progress
beyond statistics to reach the village level where most South Asians
live and carrying out policies that strengthen the rural sector and
prevent unwelcome movement from village to city.
He urged for a search for South Asia’s own home grown solutions to
current and future problems.
He said, “We must uphold our sovereign right to decide on what is
best for us. We must strive to avoid externally induced rigid solutions.
We must rather rally behind home grown and intra-regionally evolved
measures.”
Towards this end they should now endeavour to strengthen the
mechanisms to speak with one voice on issues of common concern for their
region in international fora, in particular at the United Nations, he
said.
The President proposed a regular Conclave of SAARC Parliamentarians.
Such a conclave will further engage the support and involvement of the
People’s Representatives.
It will thereby make SAARC popular within the region. The goal must
be for SAARC to become truly people centric.
He informed the Summit that the defeat of separatism and terrorism
has given us now the opportunity to engage in open discussions and reach
consensus, without the fear of guns. “With the strong mandate given at
both the recent Presidential and Parliamentary elections, I am now ready
to lead our nation and her children to a brighter future,” he said. The
President further said:
“Commitment to democratic governance now encompasses our entire
region.
Our economies led by the dynamic growth of India, have weathered the
global recession successfully.
In my country Sri Lanka, we have been able despite an adverse
economic global environment to achieve economic growth about 6% per
annum, while the per capita income has increased from US dollars one
thousand sixty in the year 2005 to US dollars two thousand fifty today.
“What is of even greater importance to me is the success we have
achieved in ensuring that the benefits of this progress filter down to
the village level.
It is crucial that economic development should not be restricted to
mere statistics. It should touch the community at all levels and make
their lives easier, richer and more satisfying.”
“We must also resolve in this ‘Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity
in SAARC’, to work diligently to strengthen both the physical and soft
connectivity between our countries and peoples. We must find, as well,
the best and the most practical means to implement the provisions of
existing SAARC Conventions, especially against terrorism.Last, but not
least, SAARC, as a regional organization cannot progress in isolation.
We must, therefore, strengthen the means for practical engagement
with the SAARC observer states and with selected International
Organizations in particular, for our development efforts.” |