Terrorism should be addressed through international cooperation: Vice President Ansari

Vice President Hamid Ansari, who concluded the five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia today, asserted that terrorism should be addressed through international cooperation including bilateral efforts.

Interacting with the media delegation onboard Air India One on his way back to India, the Vice President further said that the visit to Morocco and Tunisia was very fruitful and that had very good discussions with both countries on vast area of issues including terrorism.

With Tunisia, the Vice President said that both countries have agreed to rejuvenate the relationship and focus on areas which have been identified and that there will be a sharper focus on these issues when the Tunisian Foreign Minister visits India later this year in a Joint Commission.

He further said that there is no difficulty in the political side as they are very supportive on international fora.

Vice President Ansari said that both countries are major victims of terrorism and they were absolutely in agreement that this menace could be addressed with international cooperation including bilateral discussions.

Stating that during the visit, the focus was also on trade and technology and through Morocco and Tunisia, Ansari added that some of India's new initiatives in Africa have received attention and certain triangular tie-ups could take place.

"All in all, the reception was very warm and friendly", he added.

Reacting to a question on terrorism, the Vice President said that each country has to fight its own battle on terrorism because terrorism is 'international' and that counter terrorism should also have its international dimensions and sharing the information on a timely basis is critical.

On a question on the unemployment in these countries, Vice President Ansari said that they are very much aware that their young people are having university degrees and there are no jobs, adding that there is a complete disconnect between academic qualification and the requirements of the job market.

He further said that India's contribution can be doing more business with them and offer more employment as there are some Indian companies doing well there.

"These countries have a great potential and also a role to play in developing tourism," he added.