PM Narendra Modi would have added weight to NAM meet: Envoy

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence would have added weight to the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit that begins next week in Venezuela, the country’s ambassador to India Augusto Montiel has told ET.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a leader of global standing. His presence at the NAM summit, whose key agenda is multi-polarity and more equitable world, would have added more weight to the summit,” Montiel said in a free-wheeling chat days ahead of the summit in the picturesque Margarita Islands off the coast of Venezuela.

Modi has been espousing inclusive growth, equitable world and multipolar system, noted Monitel. “It is incumbent upon India, a founder member of NAM, to underscore these principles today than ever. We hope that Vice President Hamid Ansari, a seasoned diplomat, would underscore the common principles advocated by both Venezuela and India at the summit,” said Monitel, refusing to delve into India’s decision making process on why Modi decided to skip NAM.

Modi is the second Indian PM to skip the NAM summit after Charan Singh.