Due to unwavering political leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the extraordinary commitment and determination, professionalism and noble sacrifices of the Armed Forces, the Police and the Civil Defence Department, people are now securely on course to enjoy the fruits of freedom and to live in dignity with their right to life and freedom, said Acting Minister of External Affairs Gitanjana Gunwardena.

Delivering the Key Note address at the Regional Workshop for Police and Prosecution Officers in South Asia on “Effectively Countering Terrorism”, in Colombo yesterday the Minister said "conveying sympathies to victims of terrorism alone would not suffice. Lack of domestic legal mechanisms as well as inadequacies and gaps in national policies should deter nor delay action to implement counter-terrorism measures".

We need to face up to our collective responsibility for maintaining peace and security. We must recalibrate and galvanize all available mechanisms to dissuade, prevent, and combat all acts of terrorism, he added.

"Every State has an equal right to defend itself against threats to its Sovereignty, whether the threat emanates from within its own territory or from outside. Hence, there cannot be double-standards or different yardsticks to judge counter-terrorism measures. Also, adequate time and space is required to be given to countries that are recovering from protracted conflicts, to allow them to decide on what best suits the country, in terms of development policies and reconciliation mechanisms," he stressed.