Saarc leaders for strong action to crush terror

COLOMBO  - South Asian leaders on Saturday demanded strong action to stop terrorism spreading like “wildfire” as a regional summit opened here dominated by heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.

Terrorism is the most “menacing” challenge faced by the eight-country region, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai warned the opening session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)’s two-day summit.

Terrorism in the region has “institutional support,” particularly in Pakistan, Karzai told the meeting, being held in the Sri Lankan capital under unprecedented security with nearly 20,000 police and troops deployed to guard delegates.

“It is time we all realise that the pursuit of narrow geo-political interest and the use of militant radicalism as instrument of policy cannot succeed or serve any long term purpose,” Karzai said.

Karzai’s government is battling a Taliban-led insurgency it says is clandestinely supported by Islamabad.

“In Pakistan, terrorism and its sanctuaries are gaining a deeper grip as demonstrated by the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto,” Karzai said as Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sat in the audience. He called for “collective action to wipe out terrorism in the region” and safeguard the lives of future generations in the region made up of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Karzai last month blamed Pakistan’s intelligence service for a deadly suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 60 people - a charge Islamabad has denied.

Gilani also identified terrorism as a main challenge that had to be fought “individually and collectively,” a sentiment echoed by other SAARC leaders at the session, and condemned the attack against the Indian embassy.

“Terrorists and extremists know no borders,” Singh said, emphasising that “a prosperous South Asia” needs also to be a “peaceful and stable South Asia.”