Address by Secretary of Defence at the Inaugural Session of the Conference on “Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism in South Asia”

General Dipankar Banerjee, Dr. Nishchal Pandey, Dr. Beatrice Gorawantschy, Mr. Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, delegates from South Asian think tanks, members of the diplomatic community, respected invitees, ladies and gentlemen,
 
I believe that the topic of this conference is of extreme importance in the current global context as the subjects of violent extremism and terrorism have been a concern for the international community in recent times.
Following up on the first ever event of the Institute of National Security Studies which was notably also in collaboration with COSATT and held in Colombo last August, I am happy that INSS has once again in a short time organized this regional conference, by bringing together all the South Asian nations to Colombo, to discuss a timely topic relevant to the Ministry of Defence.
Extremism is the common factor creating instability in the South Asian region and this has led to South Asia having one of the highest annual number of deaths caused by terrorism worldwide.
Therefore, this subject poses a continuing threat to our region and the fabric of our society. Sri Lanka in particular, emerged from the ravages of the civil war with a vast amount of experience on the terrorism-prevention front.
In fact, Sri Lanka is the only country that has successfully defeated a terrorist outfit. This is a great achievement for our valiant military and speaks to the strength of our tri-forces.
It is for this reason that I believe, our nation has a crucial role to play in contributing to the prevention of terrorism. The Sri Lankan experience must be shared and learned from. It is in this capacity that INSS can play a pivotal role.
Following the end of the conflict, Sri Lanka has continued its efforts internationally in the progressive development of the legal framework for the prevention and suppression of terrorism.
In addition, our nation has domestically implemented the Prevention of Terrorism Act to curb the financing of terrorist activity. With regards to countering violent extremism in the present context as well as keeping in mind possible future uprisings, the Government of Sri Lanka has implemented a process of reconciliation that furthers this aim.
The trend of violent extremism in the country was built on the foundation of the Tamil insurgency that resulted in over 25 years of the civil war.
This has been further strengthened by the fact that the region of South Asia already holds an established arms market and technology that has allowed terrorist groups such as the LTTE to tap into these resources and thrive in the past.
Equally, socio-economic and human security issues plague the South Asian region and need to be given priority by governments.
Such issues of poverty, ethnic frustrations, lack of education and unemployment, especially among the youth, can result in radicalization and lead to violent extremism.
This is one of the reasons that our president Maithripala Sirisena declared 2017 as the year of Alleviation of Poverty.
The President also stated that “Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, where Theravada Buddhism is practiced. There are solutions in Buddhist teachings to most of the problems faced by the people in this world.
Similarly, those who follow other religions like Hinduism, Islam and Christianity too can find answers to these problems by these great religious philosophies”. By promoting the equality of religion, the fanatical ideology that inspires religious extremists can be discredited.
Moving forward, South Asia needs to implement a strategy of collective security to deal with this surge of violent extremism and terrorism.
Such a result requires our concerted efforts and the necessary political will. Forums such as COSATT and their facilitation by INSS are therefore integral as they allow for regional cooperation in sharing information, intelligence and best practices of security.
 
Thank you.