TEHRAN: Vowing not to let the terrorists succeed, President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday called for collective global efforts to counter the growing threat of terrorism.
Addressing the international conference on the “Global Fight Against Terrorism,” President Zardari called for addressing the root causes and of fighting the “mindset” by giving people hope.
President Zardari pointed that law enforcement measures help to contain the problem temporarily and said long term solutions must address political, economic and social aspects of the problem.
“The way to permanently defeat militancy is to remove the fear and instability on which it thrives,” he said.
President Zardari said the way to defeat terrorism was to provide jobs, education and healthcare for all.
“The way to win this war is to give hope to our people in the future,” he said and warned that violence begets violence.
“All must avoid senseless use of force...ensure respect for the rule of law and due process.”
He said respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states must be the basic principle of the fight against terrorism.
He said Pakistan supports the idea of a counter narrative to win the battle for hearts and minds. It is only by defeating the terrorists on the ideological front that victory could be achieved, he said.
President Zardari, who is in Tehran on a two-day visit for the conference, said Pakistan has suffered US 67 billion dollars in material losses, besides a loss of 35,000 people including 5,000 law enforcement personnel.
“We cannot allow terrorists to prevail,” President Zardari said.
He termed terrorism a mindset that promotes violence and intolerance.
“It is the disease of the mind that preaches intolerance and violence. Terrorists violate both human and divine values by inflicting death and destruction on fellow human beings. They have no religion,” Zardari added.
