VP Ansari to lead Indian delegation to NAM summit

Vice President Hamid Ansari will head the Indian delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, which will be held in Venezuela this month.
"India has so far stated that the Vice President (Ansari) will be attending the NAM Summit," Augusto Montiel, Venezuelan envoy to India said in an interaction with reporters here.
The envoy said more than 80-member delegation comprising officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office will attend the NAM Summit.
"A large delegation from India will attend the Summit. A delegation of more than 80 people has been confirmed for the summit, but it could even go beyond 100. Members of the Ministry, PMO will be there," he said.

The summit will be held on Margarita Island in Venezuela from September 13-18.
Talking about the cooperation between India and Venezuela, Montiel said every third drop of gasoline in India comes from the oil-rich Latin American country.

Modi will be the second Indian Prime Minister to give NAM Summit a miss after Charan Singh. India is also a founder member of the NAM.
The envoy claimed that 53 countries from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean and even European countries of Belarus and Azerbaijan have confirmed their participation.
He said, from South Asia, Presidents of Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan King's special envoy will attend the event. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also indicated that she could attend the Summit.