Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is heading to Iran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit on  August 30-31. The Tehran summit assumes importance for offering one more opportunity of a meeting between PM Singh and Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari. The last NAM summit at Sharm el Sheikh in 2009 had played an important role in putting India, Pakistan on the road to a renewed engagement.  Even though this time the two countries are already engaged in dialogue, it has so far failed to produce any tangible outcome. If nothing else, Singh-Zardari summit is hoped to break this monotony. The ongoing dialogue is bereft of any sense of purpose.  And if nothing dramatic is done to salvage it, the two countries look set to miss yet another shot at reconciliation between them.   Tehran summit, however, is not only important for the meeting between the leaders of India and Pakistan. The summit between Singh and Iranian president Ahmadinijad assumes more significance in view of the evolving Mideast situation and West’s pressure on Tehran to stop its nuclear-weapon’s programme. New Delhi will need to do a tough balancing act considering it is close to both US and the Iran. The two sides will be also looking to explore possibilities of working closely on Afghanistan in view of the withdrawal of international combat troops by 2014. Over and above all, Tehran summit is about the role of NAM in a changed world. World has moved on from a US-USSR  bipolarity towards a more or less multi-polar world with US continuing to be a dominant power. India itself is emerging as a significant global player along with China. In many ways, this new geo-political context seems to have reduced the relevance of NAM. But the 120-member strong body has continued to hold its own. The growing international clout of some of its members like India would only give it more influence in the global affairs. We can only hope that in a world order created by US, NAM acts as a force for good and protector of the interests of developing countries.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 26 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST