NAM solidarity needed to fight terror: PM

Noting that Non-Aligned Movement countries faced common challenges like terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday that mutual support and solidarity among the 116 members is of prime importance to deal with these.

Dr Singh left for a tour of Brazil and Cuba to attend the India-Brazil-South Africa and NAM summits.

The prime minister, who is expected to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana on the sidelines of the NAM Summit, said he looked forward to 'fruitful interactions' with a number of leaders from the developing world during his nine-day trip.

Dr Singh is expected to convey India's concerns over continued cross-border terrorism to Musharraf and ask him to act in a 'substantive' manner to eliminate the scourge.

Referring to NAM as a 'great movement', Singh told reporters that as a founding member, India will play its part in 'helping NAM revitalise itself so as to pursue the shared interests of its member states in a transformed world'.

"Mutual support and solidarity among NAM members is of prime importance as we confront several common challenges such as making globalisation more inclusive, the scourge of terrorism and addressing widespread hunger, poverty and disease," he said, before leaving for Brasilia on his first leg of the tour.

Dr Singh said India and other members of NAM will rededicate the five-decade-old organisation to the universal causes of peace, disarmament and the progress and prosperity of all human kind.

On his three-day Brazil leg of the tour, the prime minister expressed hope that his trip to the Latin American country would 'consolidate an extremely positive trend' in bilateral relations.

Underlining that India considers Brazil as 'one of the main partners in Latin America', he said his discussions with President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva would cover a wide range of issues including adding content to political and economic interactions.

The discussions are also expected to cover issues like cooperation in defence, agriculture and energy security, he said, while noting that India and Brazil enjoy an excellent tradition of cooperation in international fora.