HAVANA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempt at the XIV Non-aligned Summit being held here would be to get the non-aligned movement play a reconciling role in a world marked by terror and conflict.

Talking to the media on board Air India 1 taking him from Brasilia to Havana, he said to him, non-alignment was a state of mind, the ability to think independently of the options to widen the development choices, and it was as relevant today as it was during the period of the Cold War.

Explaining the thrust of his message in some detail, he said after the end of the Cold War, there was a sense of complacency in the Western world that they had reached the end of history and that capitalism with its superiority would solve all the problems of the world. Now people found that there was more and more anxiety over how to deal with terrorism and the role of non-state actors. The future of humanity itself was increasingly in question and people talked of the clash of civilisations and evil empires.

The non-aligned movement itself seems unclear about its main thrust at the moment. One strand of thought propounded by Cuba and Venezuela would turn the movement into a vehement critic of American unilateralism, particularly its occupation of Iraq, its stance on Iran and its role in West Asia besides its general approach to world trade and the global economy. The second strand would have the NAM focus its attention on international economic issues, particularly trade negotiations, investment flows, aid and the democratisation of the multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Singh's approach would represent a third strand and would seek to address the issues of religious and ethnic conflict, the growing divide between the West and the Islamic world, terrorism and its underlying factors. The religious diversity within the non-aligned world would be a great asset in promoting understanding and reconciling peoples of different religions, ethnicities and backgrounds through a dialogue. NAM under this vision would facilitate a dialogue of civilisations.

The summit will also bring together the Prime Minister and thePakistan President Musharraf who will be meeting on September 16 for a round of intense discussions on the sidelines. Asked for his reaction to General Musharraf's recent statement in Brussels that Pakistan had made all the concessions it could in not insisting on a plebiscite and that it was India's turn to make concessions, he said he did not want to indulge in a public discussion with President Musharraf. They would discuss serious issues during their meeting.

To a question whether there would be a joint declaration at the end of their meeting, the Prime Minister said the discussions would be on the sidelines of the summit and much would depend on how the discussion proceeded. Asked if he would rule out a joint statement, he said would neither rule out nor rule in anything.

Asked how secure he felt Pakistan's nuclear weapons were and if they would not fall into the hands of terrorist groups, the Prime Minister said India and Pakistan were conscious of their responsibilities of safeguarding the nuclear facilities.

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