LONDON: Jawaharlal Nehru's contribution to India's freedom struggle and his role as the first Prime Minister of the country were highlighted at a function in Athens to mark his 116th birth anniversary on Monday.

The conference on "Jawaharlal Nehru's role in world affairs" was jointly organised by the Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture and Development and the embassy of India in Greece, according to news agency INEP.

Indian Ambassador Bhaskar Balakrishnan first recalled Nehru's contribution during the freedom struggle and later as the Prime Minister for the first 17 years after India's independence.

"Nehru's greatest contribution was to lay strong foundation for democracy," he said, pointing out Nehru's role in world affairs - formulating the idea of non-alignment and his constructive role in brining an end to the Korean War.

Balakrishnan explained how the idea of non-alignment was distinct from neutrality, and recalled the five principles of "Panchsheel" that formed the foundation of non-alignment...

...Prominent speakers at the conference included Greek journalist and writer Marina Vichou, Indologist Demetrios Vassiliades and professor Nicolas Vernicos.

Vichou said: "When we are talking about Nehru, we are talking about a warm-hearted revolutionary in the early times, a realist socialist politician in the days after and the leader of the Non-aligned Movement during the Cold War."

"Nehru not only contributed to Indian history but he was also an architect of the world history," she added.

Vassiliades and Vernicos outlined the role of Nehru in cementing the democratic institutions of India and praised his role in transforming India into a strong nation through his social model and long range planning.

Anthony Papdopoulos, a supreme court lawyer and the general secretary of the Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture and Development welcomed the audience. Indian children felicitated their Greek counterparts on the occasion.