Terrorism continues to rear its ugly head in our region. It remains the single biggest threat to our stability. We cannot afford to lose the battle against the ideologies of hatred, fanaticism and against all those who seek to destroy our social fabric. Who can disagree with his observation that terrorists and extremists know no borders? We must defend the values of pluralism, peaceful co-existence and the rule of law. The curse of terrorism threatens peace and stability in the area. We need to redouble our efforts for collective action to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We must ensure strengthening legal mechanisms and intensifying intelligence sharing in order to secure the region's collective prosperity, peace and stability. Terrorism anywhere is terrorism and there are no good terrorists or bad terrorists. It is our joint responsibility to rid our region of this scourge. We need to fight terrorism individually as well as collectively.

The recent terrorist attacks in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan have shocked everyone. We must combat the menace of terrorism across the broadest possible spectrum. Not many of us may be aware that Bangladesh has been by and large unsparing in its handling of terrorism and its perpetrators. In Pakistan too terrorism and its sanctuaries are gaining a deeper grip as demonstrated by the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto. While existing on the absolute fringes of our tolerant and peace-loving societies, terrorists in regions receive institutional nurturing and support. It is this embedded nature of terrorists that make it a much more sinister threat. It is time we all realize 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.

The recent SAARC meet also emphasized to provide a broad framework for the SAARC members to regularly cooperate and assist in the investigation and prosecution of crime, including terrorism, and tracing, restraining and forfeiture of the proceeds and instruments of crime. Under this scheme the member-countries will have to grant to each other the widest possible measure of legal help in criminal matters. Is it not easier said than done? New Delhi and Islamabad have a joint anti-terrorism apparatus in place but it is confined merely to exchange of information. For this bilateral arrangement to become a tiger with teeth any such accord should be given a practical dimension.

In all fairness nobody can say that Pakistan at this moment does not want action against terrorists. It has been acting against them of late even as strongly on certain occasions as the other countries are doing. Somehow, however, it ends up giving the impression as if it is not doing enough. This is evidently because it has terror outfits and their ideologues openly operating from its soil and spreading venom against India and the US in particular. Why should it find itself ill-equipped to sternly deal with them? For the SAARC bond also to become meaningful it has to be understood that the mutual trust holds the all-important key. It has to be a united fight against a common enemy. Terrorism everywhere is terrorism, and together we can fight it if we actually want to.