Hyderabad, Oct 19 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday paid tributes to Pakistani Nobel laureate Abdus Salam and recalled his association with him at Cambridge during his student days.

Inaugurating the 21st general meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, formerly known as Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) here, Manmohan Singh described Salam as a visionary.

"Professor Salam had great faith in the potential of scientists of the developing world and also in the essential unity of scientific purpose in advancing human civilization as a whole. It was this vision of Professor Salam that led him to establish the Third World Academy of Sciences in 1983," the prime minister said.

"I had a great privilege of knowing Professor Salam way back from the 1950s when I was an undergraduate in St. John's College, Cambridge, and Professor Salam was a fellow of St. John's College. Subsequently, he and I worked very closely to write the report of the South Commission which was headed by Professor Julius Nyerere, the former president of Tanzania," he said.

"In this context, I visited Professor Salam a number of times and his wisdom, vast experience and knowledge were truly phenomenal. I pay my homage and humble tribute to this great leader of science and revered scientist who showed us the path to cooperation and collaboration that will and can benefit us all."

"It was Sir Winston Churchill who once said in an address at Harvard University way back in 1943: 'The empires of the future are going to be the empires of the mind'.

"There was perhaps no one who believed more fervently in Churchill's prophesy than Professor Abdus Salam, who was one of the most outstanding scientists of his generation," the prime minister said.

He also said the developing world needed many more men and women like Salam to create empires of knowledge.