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| NAM summit opens; Egypt seeks serious efforts for peace |
| V Mohan Narayan/ PTI / Sharm el-Sheikh(Egypt) Jul 15, 2009, 14:55 IST |
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The two-day 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit opened today at this Red Sea resort city with the host Egypt calling for serious efforts and international solidarity for peace and development.
Inaugurating the summit of 118 developing nations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spoke about the international financial system and the need to tackle on war-footing challenges like climate change, food security and other issues.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Galani are among the NAM heads of state or government participating in the meet, billed as the largest gathering of nations outside the UN General Assembly.
The summit is likely to be overshadowed by talks between Singh and Gilani tomorrow against the backdrop of India seeking "visible response" and undertaking from Pakistan on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
At the opening session, Libyan leader Muammar Gadafi said there was a need to re-evaluate the international situation and order.
He said that non-align is a term that has become vague now.
NAM needs a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Gadafi added and suggested formulation of a Peace and Security Council within the grouping.
Gadafi said terrorism has to be defined and all forms of the scourge tackled firmly. Sources of the menace should be spotted, he added.
He added billions of dollars have been stashed away by al-Qaeda and other terror groups in Swiss banks.
Mubarak, who was elected Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) today for a three-year term, sought international solidarity to enhance world peace and development.
The Egyptian leader took over the NAM chairmanship from Cuban President Raul Castro.
Founded in September 1961 by first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser and ex-Yugoslav President Josip Tito, NAM now groups 118 member states, 16 observer countries and 9 observer organisations.
The grouping, which represents nearly two-thirds of the UN member countries and comprises 55 per cent of the world population, focuses on interests of developing world.
In his address Cuban President Raul Castro proposed the summit observe a minute's silence in memory of the leaders of NAM who had passed away since the 14th summit.
He said NAM believes that all countries in the world should search for effective and justified measures to tackle the current financial crisis.
NAM should promote the establishment of a new international economic order of equality and sustainable development, Castro added.
At the two-day Summit, the leaders are expected to discuss the global financial crisis, climate change, the West Asian peace process, food security, energy and nuclear issues.
They are also scheduled to sign the Summit's Final Document and Sharm El Sheikh Declaration and approve the NAM's strategy and action plan for the future three years.
The summit is expected to produce declarations about the security of the world's food supply, climate change and the decade old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to honour South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela.
At the last Non-Aligned Movement Summit, in Havana, Cuba, in 2006, Malaysia had passed leadership of the movement to Cuba.
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