PM @ NAM: 'Terror groups are more daring today'

The two-day Non-Aligned Movement summit opened on Wednesday with a call from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the grouping to deny terrorists safe havens, make vigorous efforts to dismantle terror infrastructure and bring to justice terrorists and those who aid and abet them.

Addressing the plenary session, Dr Singh also warned that there could be a period of prolonged stagflation if the aftermath of the global financial crisis was not carefully managed.

Dr Singh, who will meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday, told the 118-member NAM that in recent years terrorist groups have become more organised and more daring.

"Terrorists and those who aid and abet them must be brought to justice," Dr Singh said without naming any country.

The prime minister will be meeting Gilani on Thursday to seek a categorical commitment from him that Pakistani soil will not be used for terror attacks directed against India. In his address, Dr Singh said the infrastructure of terrorism must be dismantled and there should be no safe havens for terrorists because they do not represent any cause, group or religion.

The prime minister made a strong pitch for the comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism mooted by India in the United Nations. "It is time that we agree on such a convention," he said.

Dr Singh noted that extremism, intolerance and terrorism "are our antitheses" since they "seek to destroy us and our Movement."

The prime minister noted that no non-aligned summit has ever been held in an economic and financial crisis of the magnitude that now gripped the world.

The global recession has strengthened protectionism in developed countries' markets, drastically reduced developing nations' exports and choked credit and capital flow to the Third World.

Dr Singh told the Summit under the new chairmanship of Egypt that with the benefits and burdens of globalisation so unfairly distributed, it would be even harder for developing economies to cope with the crisis.

"If the aftermath of the crisis is not carefully managed, and if the abundance of liquidity leads to a revival of speculative activities, we may well see a period of prolonged stagflation," he said.

Crucially, for the developing world, a continuing slowdown will force more and more people from these countries back into poverty, bringing down levels of nutrition, health and education, he said.

The prime minister emphasised that the Non-Aligned Movement has a great stake in ensuring that steps planned to revive the global economy take into account the concerns of the developing countries.

These include the challenges of food security, energy security, environment and reforms of institutions of global governance, he said.

"They are embedded in the economic crisis and must be dealt with comprehensively and with a sense of urgency. We have a crucial stake in a rule-based multilateral trading system and in an early conclusion of a balanced and fair agreement in the Doha Round," Dr Singh said.

Dr Singh said the relevance of NAM has never been greater than today and felt cooperation, trade and investment among these countries could contribute significantly to reviving the world economy.

He regretted that decision-making processes, whether in the UN or the international financial institutions, continued to be based on charters written more than 60 years ago though the world has changed greatly since then.

The prime minister made a strong demand for the voice of emerging economies to be heard in world bodies. "Developing countries must be fully represented in the decision-making levels of international institutions if they are to remain effective and have the legitimacy they need to play their roles in an increasingly integrated world."

Voicing concern over the accumulation of greenhouse gases resulting from over two centuries of industrial activity and unsustainable lifestyles in the developed world, Dr Singh asserted that any equitable solution to the problem of climate change should acknowledge this "historical responsibility."

Developing countries, including India, insist that the climate change taking place today is because of accumulated emissions ever since the industrial revolution and developed countries should take greater responsibility in tackling it.

They feel that emission control standards could not be applied equally on them.

Developing countries, Dr Singh said, were the worst affected by climate change. They had the biggest stake in ensuring the success of global efforts to tackle climate change.

"We recognise more than anyone else our obligation to preserve and protect the environment. We are already making our significant contribution in this regard, but climate change action must not perpetuate the poverty of the developing countries," Dr Singh said.

He stressed that the weight of NAM should be used to achieve a comprehensive, balanced and equitable outcome in the ongoing multilateral negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen conference in December this year.

Image: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attends the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Photograph: Khaled El Fiqi/Pool/Reuters