Lanka seeking home-grown solution: President

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said it was with Sri Lanka’s own ‘home-grown’ solution that the country sought to face up to its own issues of governance including the conflict affecting the north of the country. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, President Rajapaksa also said that while the Government remained determined to fight terrorism, it was equally committed to seeking a negotiated and sustainable solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

“If those who carry arms against the State are willing to enter a process of genuine negotiation towards a peaceful and democratic solution, the Government and the people will reciprocate. In this, it would not be out of place to look forward to understanding and assistance from our regional neighbours and friends, especially those with whom we share the strongest bonds throughout history,” he said.

The President said that India had evolved its own model of governance.“This is a uniquely Indian approach which has led to India being universally applauded for its profoundly democratic and pluralist governance structure. In this largest of democracies in the last two decades India has continued to take measures to ensure that the benefits of this growth reach the many who are in need,” he said.

President Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka too needs to correct a growth imbalance that tends to confine development to certain politically advantaged areas of the country and in addressing this, it is necessary to overcome the current threat of terrorism that is consuming so much of the country’s energies and resources as it would in any other society too that is faced with such a daunting challenge.

“Yet, our hopes of success of more even economic growth can be seen in the new development program we have launched in the Eastern Province that has finally been liberated from the forces of terror. This important achievement can pave the way for a speedy political solution curtailing terrorist fund raising abroad and their illicit trafficking networks demonstrating to them that the way forward is to join the democratic mainstream in good faith,” he added.

The President also said that other countries in the region look to India for a future strong economic leadership that will benefit not only India but also the other countries in the region.“When I participated in the last SAARC meeting, I proposed that our region must go for a common currency. I wish to re-iterate on this aspect of our economic stability” he said adding that the very strength that will underline India’s future would be best served by the strengthening of regional cooperation and bilateral relations.

“With her strength in people and democracy, and her leadership in economy and technology in the region, South Asia will increasingly look to India to position herself for more dynamic leadership of SAARC. India’s neighbours will look forward to the sharing of her progress with them and to alleviate their concerns about instability in the region,”he said.

The President also spoke about the deep rooted link between the two countries based on Buddhism stating personally Buddhism was his inspiration.“In my own work today I am guided by the admonition of Arahat Mahinda - son of India’s greatest Emperor Dharmasoka who brought Buddhism to my country - to King Devanampiyatissa in the 2nd century BC that a ruler is only a provisional custodian of one’s territory, a custodian of the land, the environment and all living beings that are under one’s care.
On the issue of global warming and climate change, President Rajapaksa said India, a land that is sun-drenched for most of the year must show the rest of Asia and the world how the energy of the Sun can be harnessed to benefit governments and people with the advances in science and technology.

“Similarly, the resources in the vast ocean around our countries need to be fully harnessed, for which India, I am sure, can provide leadership,” he said. “We in South Asia must deliver on economic development to improve the lives of the millions of our people; that priority needs to be understood. Yet, we cannot be blind to the needs of the Earth and the needs of future generations,” he said.

The President also said that he looks forward to both India and Sri Lanka progressing as self-confident societies acquiring the capacity to imagine and apply policies that are best suited to the needs of the people of the region and humanity. “India and Sri Lanka were linked with bonds that have lasted to this day. In the India that I can imagine I see this bond being forged even stronger in facing up to the many challenges that we shall meet, compelled by our common history and emerging future,” he added.