India has called for “credible transnational action” in the turmoil-ridden West Asian nation of Syria as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to participate in the upcoming 16th NAM summit.
Acknowledging that “outdated structures of global governance have not been able to keep pace with contemporary political and economic challenges”, the PM said that Syria was one such challenge. The Prime Minister also emphasised the need for Non-Aligned Movement to “provide a strong political impetus to the ongoing efforts to reform and democratise global governance structures”.
Syria is expected to be a contentious issue during the discussions when leaders belonging to 120 member-countries of NAM meet over two days beginning Thursday. The call for concerted action by India on the part of nations came in the pre-departure statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who became the first Indian PM to visit Iran in over a decade.
A staunch Syria supporter, Iran has prepared a “peace plan” for Syria which it hopes to present before other NAM members.
It has described the plan as being one that is “acceptable, rational and principled” though its details are yet to be unveiled.
Also enunciating India’s concerns on Syria on Tuesday was external affairs minister S.M. Krishna during his intervention at the preparatory ministerial meeting in Tehran for the Summit.
Mr Krishna said that India is deeply concerned at the developments in Syria and that “further militarisation of the conflict must be avoided”.
Mr Krishna also repeated what India has been saying all along even as many countries including the United States continue to demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.