'High time to come together': India's Patil

Andra Wisnu, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Sun, 11/30/2008 10:32 AM 

India's President Pratibha Devisingh Patil (center) talks to media during her visit to Taman Ayung temple in Mengwi, on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, on Saturday. (AP/Firdia Lisnawati)

 

Indian President Pratibha Patil urged the international community to work together to end terrorism after praying for peace for her terrorist-attacked home country at the Hindu Temple of Taman Ayun in Mengwi district of Badung, Bali, on Saturday. 

Patil, during her stop in Bali on a six-day trip to Indonesia, went to the temple to pray for her country which, as of Saturday, had just regained control of the city. 

"I have prayed that good sense will prevail on all people so that such acts of terrorism do not occur again. 

"It is high time for people to come together -- people of all regions, all communities and castes -- and decide that the world should come together for the peace and happiness of mankind," she said. 

Reports have said that at least 195 were killed in coordinated attacks at 10 well-known sites in India's financial center, including the luxury Taj Mahal Hotel, a Jewish center and the city's main train station. 

Patil was on a Southeast Asian trip during the attacks. She was on her way to Indonesia for bilateral discussions following an earlier visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to India in 2005. 

President Patil said that during her stopover in Vietnam, she had met with Vietnamese leaders who had condemned the attacks. 

She said Bali's leaders, who had faced deadly terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2005, also condemned the attacks on Mumbai. 

"It has been unanimously decided that terrorism is high on the agenda of the international community, and we must jointly and relentlessly fight it. 

"This is what is needed and I think good sense will prevail on all people," she said. 

Patil is scheduled to leave for Jakarta on Sunday, where she will meet Yudhoyono on Monday to sign a number of agreements, including sports, oil and gas, agriculture and an education exchange program. 

Meanwhile, Indonesia's ambassador to India, Andi Ghalib, said five Indonesian employees at Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel who had been reportedly trapped in the area during the attacks were safe and secure at the Indonesian consulate general. 

"All the Indonesian employees, all of whom happened to be Balinese, were rescued Friday. I've talked to them and they are all perfectly fine," Andi told reporters. 

The employees had traveled to Mumbai earlier this year to work as spa therapists in Oberoi Hotel. 

Wayan Sandat, father of Damayanti, one of the Indonesians, said he was relieved to hear that his daughter was safe. 

"We'll keep on praying that she'll come back safely soon and that the government will help us bring her home," he said.

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