Gowdas one-on-one meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamed, during the sixth G-15 summit in Zimbabwe, are being spoken of as key interactions by his aides.
Both Gowda and Mahathir agreed that in the post-Cold War world, the economic strength of a country, and not its political actions, will determine its place in the international arena. Mahathir said Malaysia was keen on participating in a number of infrastructure projects in India.
Mubarak, while talking to Gowda, gave up his customary Arabic in favour of English. India expressed support for the re-election bid of UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros Ghali, an Egyptian.
Referring to the Kashmir situation, Mubarak said the rise of international terrorism and fundamentalism spelt danger not only for South Asia but for countries across the world.
The comments of India, Malaysia and Zimbabwe on the multilateral agreement on investment (MAI) and the social clause, which have angered many southern nations, were said to be crucial in the final joint communiqu