NAM summit begins without Fidel Castro

The charismatic leader's younger brother and First Vice-President of Cuba Raul Castro took over the proceedings.

The NAM summit began in Havana on Friday. PM Manmohan Singh, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad were among the host of leaders from all continents attending the conference which is expected to take up major global and regional issues like the Iranian nuclear standoff, war in Lebanon and discriminatory nuclear regime.

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Singh, who has opposed any coercive action against Tehran over its nuclear standoff, met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and discussed bilateral and regional issues. The meeting, the first of a series of interactions the Prime Minister will have on the sidelines of the NAM summit, took place just before the start of the conference here.

The two-day 14th NAM summit of the 116-member grouping, missed the charismatic presence of the Cuban leader 80-year-old Fidel Castro, who is still recovering in hospital from a major intestinal surgery, but was still elected chairman of the conference. His younger brother and First Vice-President of Cuba Raul Castro took over the proceedings.