Swift and credible steps are must to eliminate terrorists' safe havens: Ansari

Zagreb (Croatia), June 10 (ANI): Stating scourge of terrorism is disruptive of all civilized life, the Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Thursday said swift and credible steps are needed to eliminate terrorists' safe havens.

Addressing at the Banquet hosted by President of Croatia in Zagreb, Croatia, the visiting Indian Vice-President Ansari, stated that the challenges of today defy borders, and thus, there is need to continue collective efforts to strengthen international cooperation to eradicate terrorism.

"Recent incidents of terrorism in India and other countries serve as a grim reminder that the scourge of terrorism is disruptive of all civilized life. It knows no boundaries and seriously threatens international peace and security," Ansari mentioned.

Appealing to strengthen international cooperation to root out terrorism, Ansari said: "We must continue and reinvigorate our collective efforts to strengthen international cooperation to eradicate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Swift and credible steps must be taken to eliminate terrorist safe havens."

"There is an urgent need to strengthen the global consensus and the legal regime against terrorism, including early adoption of the long overdue Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations," he added.

Ansari said that he was privileged to witness the rapid progress made by Croatia in recent years as it is engaged with the European Union, with which India has a strategic partnership.

"There are many opportunities for us to enlarge our engagement as we noted during our discussions. Our management of the economy over past two years helped us to minimise the effect of the unprecedented global financial crisis on our growth momentum. After growing at an unprecedented average of 9 per cent per year for four years, the economy slowed down to 6.5 per cent in 2008-09 and then recovered to 7.4 per cent in 2009-10. In the current financial year 2010-11, the economy is expected to grow at 8.5 per cent. This reflects the strong fundamentals of our economy," said Ansari.

"It is my earnest hope that our two countries would forge a meaningful and mutually beneficial partnership in the coming years based on our respective strengths and capabilities," he added. (ANI)