The 12th NAM summit that concluded in the wee hours, dropped critical references to India and Pakistan's nuclear tests but noted the "complexities" arising out of the explosions.

The nuclear tests in South Asia underlined the need to work even harder to achieve NAM's disarmament objectives, including elimination of nuclear weapons, the final declaration adopted by the 114-member group said.

The original draft para in the declaration, prepared by hosts South Africa, was critical of the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan saying that the actions had inevitably added to the complexity of the issues related to non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and expressed deep concern at theemergence of a nuclear arms race.

The South African proposal had called upon all the states having capability to produce nuclear weapons to refrain from weaponising the capability and desist from designing a delivery system.

India rejected the draft para because it amounted to asking New Delhi not to weaponise its nuclear capabilities, Indian officials said.

Without naming India and Pakistan, the 127-page final declaration considered "positively the commitment by the parties concerned in the region to exercise restraint, which contributes to regional security, to discontinue nuclear tests and not to transfer nuclear weapons-related material, equipment and technology".

Stressing the need for complete disarmament, it said, "With the end of the Cold War, there is no justification for maintenance of nuclear arsenals, or concepts of international security based on promoting and developing military alliances and policies of nuclear deterrence."

The NAM leaders stressed the significance of universaladherence to CTBT, including by all nuclear weapon states, and commencement of negotiations in the conference on disarmament on fissile materials which it said, inter-alia, should accelerate the process of nuclear disarmament.

Endorsing India's call for a global conference before the end of this millennium to arrive at an agreement on a phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, they said such a conference should be held preferably in 1999.

The conference should consider a specific time-frame for elimination of all nuclear weapons, prohibition of their development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use, and to provide for their destruction.

The NAM, without mentioning any country, stressed the need for bilateral dialogue to secure peaceful solution on all outstanding issues and the promotion of confidence and security-building measures and mutual trust.

The summit asked the international community to join the movement in negotiating andimplementing universal, non-discriminatory disarmament measures and mutually-agreed confidence-building measures.

The leaders also insisted on the need to conclude a universal and legally-binding multilateral agreement committing all states to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.

In this context, they regretted that some nuclear weapon states had adopted inflexible postures which prevented the conference on disarmament in Geneva from commencing these negotiations.

"They underscored the flexibility, which on the other hand has been demonstrated by the members of the non-aligned movement, members of the conference on disarmament, in accepting the proposal to establish an ad-hoc committee to negotiate a convention on prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," the declaration said.