G-8 leaders vow to intensify fight against terror

ST PETERSBURG: Expressing outrage over the “barbaric” Mumbai blasts, leaders at the G-8 summit on Monday denounced terrorist attacks worldwide and strongly condemned the perpetrators of these atrocities.

“We are outraged by the barbaric terrorist acts, carried out in Mumbai and other parts of India. We stand in solidarity with the government and the people of India and express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” the world leaders said on the concluding day of the summit of the world’s eight most industrialised nations.

Leaders of the G-8 and outreach countries including Brazil, China, Mexico and South Africa, said they were united with India in their resolve to intensify efforts to fight terrorism, which constitutes a threat to all countries, as well as to international peace and security.

“We are determined to continue the fight against terrorism by all legitimate means. We express our readiness to undertake all necessary measures to bring to justice perpetrators, organisers, sponsors of these and other terrorist acts, and those who incited the perpetrators to commit them,” they said.

Earlier, the leaders of the G-8 said in a counter-terrorism statement that: “We, the leaders of the G-8, meeting in St Petersburg, categorically denounce terrorist attacks worldwide and condemn in the strongest terms those who perpetrate these atrocities. If terrorism and violent extremism are permitted to exist anywhere, they diminish our societies everywhere. Today we pledge that we will not rest until the terrible blight of terrorism has been removed from our daily lives.”

Stating that the global terrorist threat requires a global response, the G-8 sought coordinated action by its members and its international partners to reduce the likelihood of attacks and to address their terrible consequences.

Recognising the centrality of the UN’s role in achieving universal agreement on the condemnation of terrorism, the G-8 emphasised the urgency of enhancing cooperation to counter terrorist and other criminal attacks on critical energy infrastructure facilities.

A plan of action to secure critical global energy infrastructure, including defining and ranking vulnerabilities of key infrastructure sites, assessing emerging and potential risks of terrorist attacks and developing best practices for effective security across all energy sectors within G-8 countries, has also been finalised at the summit under Russia’s rotating presidency.

Among the other steps announced by G-8 are improving the international legal framework on counter-terrorism. Suppressing attempts by terrorists to gain access to weapons and other means of mass destruction.