PM calls for united fight against terrorism at NAM

Havana, Sep 16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called upon the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement to unite in the fight against terrorism and proposed the establishment of a Working Group on Energy Security to be coordinated by India as well as a high-level group for West Asia.

He also sugested a major NAM initiative on Africa, saying the future of the planet was inextricably linked to the destiny of the continent.

The Prime Minister made out a strong case for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for India.

Overall, Dr Singh stressed the need for NAM to unite behind a "common and a fundamentally new vision of "inclusive globalisation".

"If NAM is to be relevant in today's circumstances, it cannot afford to equivocate on the subject of terrorism," he said in his intervention at the plenary session of the 14th NAM Summit, which opened here this morning.

"A message must emanate from us that we are united in our desire to fight and eliminate the scourge of terrorism. We cannot allow the forces of intolerance and extremism to distract the world's attention from the vital concerns of our people---the problems of poverty, ignorance and disease," he declared.

Dr Singh said the Working Group could draw up a NAM Action Plan for Energy Security to address the energy challenges of the future.

"India would be prepared to coordinate such a group," he offered.

Dr Singh also said it was an opportune time for the grouping to take a major NAM initiative on Africa.

"African countries form the largest single grouping in NAM as well as in the United Nations General Assembly. The future of our planet is inextricably linked to the destiny of Africa," he said.

He said the initiative would focus on human resource and agricultural development. It would involve setting up of a mechanism, in cooperation with the African Union, to pool the assets of members for investment in the furue of Africa.

"We should be prepared to work together with other interested NAM countries on elaborating the NAM initiative on Africa," he said.

The Prime Minister reminded NAM members that they lived in an increasingly inter-dependent world.

"The challenge ahead is to promote a balanced and equitable management of this interdependence of nations," he said.

"As globalization progresses, national and regional boundaries are becoming less and less relevant. Our problems are global, so must our solutions be," he stressed.

Praising the "creative and critical leadership role" played by the UN in shaping the international agenda in the past, Dr Singh said reforming the world body and revitalising the UNGA was a "pressing imperative." Arguing India's case for a permanent UNSC seat, he said, "The developing world must find its due representation among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"We must join hands with other like minded countries to promote democratization of processes of global governance, ushering in a new global polity, based on the rule of law, reason and equity," he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that the members of NAM constituted more than half of the membership of the UN.

"Our collective strength is unmatched, and we must now unite behind a common and a fundamentally new vision of 'inclusive globalization,'" he said.

The Prime Minister said globalisation must be accompanied by a more balanced and equitable distribution of its benefits.

"In economic affairs, the biblical saying 'to him that hath shall be given' has wide applicability'", he said.

If such balance is not achieved, the global response to challenges would remain uneven and partial at best, he pointed out.

Turning to political issues, the Prime Minister noted that NAM had led the struggle against attempts to divide the world into ideologically irreconciliable blocs.

"We espoused peaceful co-existence and the higher cause of humanity beyond racial divisions. Today, we again confront the danger of the world being split along an artificially created cultural and religious divide," he said.

He said NAM, encompassing as it does, every religion professed by mankind, every ethnic group and ideological persuasion, was uniquely placed today, once again, to play the role of a bridge of understanding.

"Our cooperative world view is in itself a rejection of the notion of a 'clash of civilizations'. Rather, our message to the world should be that it is possible to work for a 'confluence of civilizations,'" he said.

Dr Singh said the emerging fault lines of the new ideological divide were nowhere more apparent today than in West Asia. "We have just been witness to a tragic and pointless war in Lebanon. It has only sharpened the sense of alienation and resentment, brutalizing a country that had just begun to reclaim its heritage of inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony after years of conflict," he said.

He recommended the constitution of a suitable high level group for West Asia.

"The group could undertake a sustained mission to promote understanding in the region and assist in the implementation of the agreed roadmap towards a comprehensive peace. The international community must address more fully its responsibility to resolve this issue and bring to an end once and for all the long years of suffering of the Palestinian people," he said.

Recalling that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had presented to the UNGA in 1988 a detailed and credible Action Plan for Nuclear Disarmament, Dr Singh said the time had come for NAM to once again assume an active and leading role in advocating this cause.

He said India had prepared a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament which would be circulated at the UNGA this year and invited NAM members to join it in its efforts to achieve "universal nucler disarmament and a world free of all nuclear weapons." The Prime Minister said if NAM wished to revitalise itself, the collective message of the summit must be seen as being central to the success of global efforts to deal with urgent transnational issues such as terrorism, pandemics, energy security and environment.

"As a group we have rejected extremes. We must spread the message of Gandhiji, the apostle of peace. Our voice must then be one of moderation, harmony and reason. If such is the voice of more than half of the people of the world, it will prevail. And, it will guide the destiny of our planet," he added.

At the outset, Dr Singh congratulated Cuba on its assumption of the Chair of NAM and wished ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro, who could not make it to the summit, a speedy recovery and long life.

He also praised Malaysia for its skillful stewardship of NAM for the last three years.

"Non-alignment is freedom of action which is a part of independence." He wanted us to judge issues 'in full freedom and without any pre-conceived partisan bias,'" he quoted India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the founders of NAM as saying.

"This vision must continue to shape our perspectives in the years ahead," he added.

UNI