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Musharraf left for Kuala Lumpur to attend NAM summit

Musharraf left for Kuala Lumpur to attend NAM summit ISLAMABAD, Feb 23 (KUNA) -- The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf Sunday left for Kuala Lumpur to attend the 13th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
President Musharraf will attend the two-day heads of state meeting of 114 member states on February 24 and 25 at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The NAM summit is being held in the midst of unprecedented security and with the main question mark haunting on its relevance to such international flash points as Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bahari Vajpayee is also attending the NAM summit.
It will be the fourth time when President General Musharraf and Indian Premier Vajpayee will be together at an international forum since the attack in front of the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001, leading to a 10-months long tense military standoff between the two sides.
The last time the two heads were together was at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September last.
A meeting on the sidelines of the summit meeting between President General Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bahari Vajpayee is not in the offing. Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha has already made it clear that talks with Pakistan are out of the question and the two leaders will not meet in Kuala Lumpur.
The last time they had met was at Kathmandu (Nepal), on the occasion of the summit conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in January 2002. The handshake, which President Musharraf virtually forced on the Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, produced no results, and the military tensions continued until late into the summer last year. At Almaty, in June last, there was not even a handshake, and all attempts by the hosts, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to arrange a meeting failed.
The theme of the NAM summit is terrorism. But Malaysia has made the Indians a little worried, because Kuala Lumpur believes that the causes that lead to terrorism must also be addressed. This constitutes indirect criticism of India and Israel. The Indians feel this stand takes Malaysia closer to Pakistan's stand, which believes in condemning terrorism by individuals and groups as well as state terrorism.
The Kuala Lumpur Summit is being seen as a test for the NAM to prove its worth after the end of the cold war era. The priority areas in the agenda of the NAM summit are the impending war on Iraq and the use of war in the resolution of international conflicts.
The NAM includes six nations, which are also member of the 15-member UN Security Council. These are Angola, Guinea, Syria, Pakistan, Chile and Cameroon.
The movement members also include Iran, Iraq and North Korea, the three states branded by U.S. President George W. Bush as an "axis of evil".
The NAM Movement traces its origin to the Bandung Conference of 1955, which was co-sponsored by Pakistan, along with India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Indonesia.
Pakistan has continued to play an important role in the deliberations of NAM and is regarded as one of its key members.
Pakistan, which did not attend the first session of NAM as it was a member of CENTO and SEATO then, however participated in the deliberations as a guest until its assumption of full membership during the 1979 Havana Summit.
Pakistan has advocated the need for the Movement to continue to promote peace and economic development amongst its member states.
Pakistan shares the view that the Non-Aligned Movement has made an admirable contribution in the past to the cause of freedom and liberty, to the struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination. (end) myk.ja