NAM summit: Pakistan scuttles India-sponsored proposal on terror

MARGARITA ISLAND ( VENEZUELA): Pakistan has scuttled an India-sponsored proposal on setting up of a working group on counter-terrorism during the deliberations at the senior official-level 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here.

According to top government sources, as NAM diplomats strove to set up a working group on terrorism to coordinate their positions in international fora, Pakistani representative Tasneem Aslam alone spoke against it and opposed the consensus that had built around the proposal which had the support of a very large number of NAM delegations.

"Despite being isolated, Pakistan continued with its objections to stall the proposal emphasising that there could not be a consensus on terrorism," the sources said.

The proposal by India, whose ministerial delegation is led by Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, gathered a lot of steam following the minister's strong pitch against terrorism at the ministerial segment.

Interestingly, there was no meeting so far between Akbar and Pakistan's adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz who is also here for the conference.

"The Indian proposal aimed to foster greater cooperation between NAM states who are the biggest victims of terrorism as 20 NAM states from all parts of the globe spoke strongly in support with Pakistan being the sole country opposing the broadly supported initiative," sources said.