Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 820 Sat. September 16, 2006  
   
International


NAM must make positive contribution to world: India


As the summit of Non-Aligned grouping begins, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said the NAM must make a constructive contribution to the new world order free from fear and war and the time has come not to divide the world further but to reduce tensions.

He said there was new anxiety in the world on how to deal with terror and the role of non-state actors and the NAM must live up to its new potential in the highly uncertain, insecured world that was prevailing now.

Talking to reporters on way from Brasilia to Havana, Singh said non-alignment was a state of mind -- to think independently about options and widen development choices -- and in that sense NAM was relevant today as it was before.

He said soon after the end of the cold war era there was complacency in the western world that capitalism would solve all problems but now there was a new anxiety in the world on how to deal with the problem of terror and the role of non-state actors.

"The future of humanity is being increasingly questioned and people are talking about a clash of civilisations, people have also been talking of evil empires.

"So, I do believe that cold war may have ended and the NAM, comprising 116 countries representing all regions of the world, can help and make a constructive contribution to building a new world order free from fear, want and poverty," the Prime Minister said.

"NAM must live up to its new potential in the highly uncertain, insecure world that we live in," he said.

Picture
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (C) and his wife Gursharan Kaur (L) are welcomed by the Cuban Minister for Higher Education Juan Vela (R) at Havana's airport on Thursday. Singh is attending the Non-Aligned summit in Cuba, where top diplomats from more than 100 developing countries are gathering since Monday. PHOTO: AFP