NEW DELHI: Urging cooperation of all nations in ending terrorism, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday that there is nothing terrorists would like to do more than sow dissension and create conflict. This is what they see as their success, he added.
“This is what we must prevent through collective action,” the minister said at a news conference following talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. “Terrorism is a cancer, we need to cut it out,” Prince Saud said. The best way to deal with terrorism is to “destroy it completely,” so that tragedies like Mumbai are not repeated, he added.
Prince Saud was here to convey condolences on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the people of India and the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. During his brief visit, Prince Saud called on Vice President Hamid Ansari. He also met with Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.
The Saudi minister’s visit assumes added importance as it comes at a time of heightened tension between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai killings, which Delhi has blamed on terrorists based on Pakistani soil.
During their meeting, Mukherjee reportedly shared details with Prince Saud regarding Mumbai terror strikes that India alleges were carried out by 10 heavily armed terrorists who had been trained in Pakistan. They were sent from Karachi for the Mumbai strikes, in which 179 people, including 26 foreigners, were killed.
Mukherjee also drew his Saudi counterpart’s attention to the need of pressuring Pakistan into cooperating with India on tackling terrorism. He said Pakistan had failed to assist India by refusing to hand over terror suspects.
Drawing attention to an upswing in Saudi-India ties following King Abdullah’s visit in 2006, Mukherjee sought Riyadh’s help in persuading Islamabad to act against terrorists.
At the joint news conference, Mukherjee said: “It was agreed (at their meeting) that global terrorism has to be dealt with by joint action among all countries. We further agreed that whatever action has to be taken to control terrorism should be taken without delay and in a transparent manner.”
Although Prince Saud wished to be here soon after the Mumbai attacks, the government was not in a position to receive him then as it was occupied with dealing with the situation, Mukherjee pointed out.
Prince Saud said the Kingdom had proposed to the United Nations that a special body representing the international community be formed to jointly fight the menace of terrorism.
Prince Saud’s visit came ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the Kingdom early next year. Singh was earlier expected to be in Riyadh last month but the visit was deferred due to prior commitments of King Abdullah.
