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In one of my previous posts, I had written about the Basques. I had briefly mentioned about the Basque separatist group ETA, the organisation responsible for the Madrid train bombings. Today is a historical day for Basques. ETA has declared permanent ceasefire!

ETA is demanding a separate state for Basque people in Spain and France. ETA has used violance to achive their objective. But in a complete turnaround from their previous stance, ETA spokesman today announced that "they are ready to use democratic process to create a Basque country". This could be the first step of the peace process.

In last few years, there has been increasing pressure on the terrorist groups to stop the violance. Governments all over the world are taking stern measures to crack down on terrorism. With globalisation economic matters are taking precedence over the political issues. This has accelerated peace processes in some regions of the world, like India-Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Palestine. Of course, there are terrorism is on the rise, like Iraq, Nepal. It is interesting to note that, these regions are not integrated in the global economy and are facing the consequences. On the other hand, flourishing economies of India and China have prompted them overlook the contentious issues and join hands on the trading front.

Ireland serves as a perfect example of this. It has made tremendous progress after IRA had given up violent means. With the flourishing economy in the last decade, there is hope that more and more terrorist organisations will follow the suit and world would be a safer place.