Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) : NAM Summit Was Held at Margarita Island in Venezuela in September 2016
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) : NAM Summit Was Held at Margarita Island in Venezuela in September 2016
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) : NAM Summit Was Held at Margarita Island in Venezuela in September 2016
The Non Aligned Movement came into being 55 years ago when leaders of 25 developing countries met
at the 1961 Belgrade Conference. 17th NAM Summit was held at Margarita Island in Venezuela in
September 2016.
Presently 120 developing countries are members of this Movement. The NAM Summits are among the
largest gathering of countries, after the UN.
• 53 countries from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 2 from
Europe (Belarus, Azerbaijan).
• There are 17 countries and 10 international organizations that are Observers at NAM.
Vice President Hamid Ansari's address at the 17th NAM Summit (Sept. 2016)
The foundations of NAM Movement, are as relevant today as they were at the time of our first Summit.
• “respect for sovereignty”,
• “peaceful settlement of disputes” and
• “international cooperation”
NAM's theme for the next three years – “Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development” – is in
congruence with our founding principles.
• Cooperation, and Development Cooperation, is an essential means of SDGs in the Agenda 2030.
• Peace and Sovereignty – are a pre-requisite for development.
Main Challenge: To modernize the manner in which NAM functions (a discussion already began on this
at the Cartagena Summit in 1995). This discussion must continue and fructify so that NAM may achieve
its full potential.
• In order to enhance the role of the Movement, it is essential to bolster its internal strength.
• The need to extend and enhance co-ordination and to study the possibility of holding
consultations, on a regular basis through the Coordinating Bureau.
• To improve the mechanism for enhancing the role of the NAM in conformity with changes in the
international situation so that the Movement is able to respond effectively and expeditiously to
the current challenges.
Shyam Saran (Book: How India Sees the World): It is important to make a distinction between non-
alignment as a foreign policy choice for India and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
• NAM was born as a movement of developing countries that shunned military alliances and wished
to jointly play a role in promoting peace, disarmament and development.
• Leadership of the NAM also fetched India great political leverage in its relations with the
superpowers and their allies, compensating to some extent its lack of significant economic and
military capabilities.
While the NAM lost much of its relevance with the end of the Cold War, non-alignment as a principle
governing Indian foreign policy remains relevant to this day.
It was not the end of the Cold War that made the NAM irrelevant. The movement was dysfunctional well
before that. It was never really possible to harmonise the economic and political interests of so many
different countries. If the rhetoric of the 1970s papered over the internal contradictions, the 1980s
mercilessly exposed them; the NAM has not recovered since.
Although the movement has been in coma for long, few would dare to pronounce it dead, let alone call
for its burial. The triennial political ritual will therefore continue. For most countries its only diplomatic
utility lies in bringing their particular national issues to the fore in a large international gathering. It’s
no surprise then India was so focused on getting its concerns about cross-border terrorism from
Pakistan heard at the summit.
Prof. Vijay Prasad: At the 1973 NAM meeting in Algiers, the member states laid out the New
International Economic Order (NIEO), a charter for a different way to manage political disagreements
and trade across states. The NIEO proposed a new path. It had an electric effect, but it died in the rubble
of the debt crisis. A new charter for a 21st century NAM is needed. If the NAM is to be relevant, it
needs to develop such a visionary document.
https://t.me/visionpt3652019