Non-Alignment Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of 120 members states which are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc(USA and Soviet Union).Emergence of Non-Aligned Movement took place during the period of  Cold world war when the whole world was separated in a sphere of bipolar world.Russia (Soviet Union) and U.S.A were the two major giant power , fighting for their dominance over the globe.

Era of 1990 proved to be crucial as breaking of Soviet Union into various smaller nations made U.S.A only the major power of the world and world got changed from bipolar to unipolar. Many nations were formally rejected to join the either power and it leads to formation of new movement named as The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

History of Non-Aligned Movement

The founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement were: Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.The Non-Aligned Movement was formed during the Cold War, largely on the initiative of then-Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, as an organization of States that did not seek to formally align themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union, but sought to remain independent or neutral. The basic concept for the group originated in 1955 during discussions that took place at the Asia-Africa Bandung Conference held in Indonesia. The seeds that sprouted in Bandung took firm roots 6 years later when 25 newly independent countries formally founded the NAM at Belgrade Summit of 1961. 'The Movement has, thus, been representing the vast majority of humankind, and providing the Block politics of the Cold War.At the Cairo preparatory meeting the participants discussed in detail the principal aims and objectives of a policy of non-alignment. These were adopted as criteria for membership as well as for the invitations to the First Summit Conference.

The criteria are the following:

The country should have adopted an independent policy based on the coexistence of States with different political and social systems and on non-alignment or should be showing a trend in favour of such a policy.

The country concerned should be consistently supporting the Movements for National Independence.

The country should not be a member of a multilateral military alliance concluded in the context of Great Power conflicts.

If a country has a bilateral military agreement with a Great Power, or is a member of a regional defence pact, the agreement or pact should not be one deliberately concluded in the context of Great Power conflicts.

If it has conceded military bases to a Foreign Power the concession should not have been made in the context of Great Power conflicts.

NAM works on the five principles :

Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty

Mutual non-aggression

Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs

Equality and mutual benefit

Peaceful co-existence

NAM is also an important forum for interaction with partner countries across continents, including from Africa, CARICOM, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and LDCs, with whom we have longstanding development partnerships in a spirit of south-south cooperation.

17th NAM summit was held in Venezuela at Margarita Island. The current summit address the issue of Terrorism, UN reform, the situation in West Asia, threats to peace & security, UN peacekeeping operations, climate change, sustainable development, economic governance, south-south cooperation, refugees and migrants, and nuclear disarmament. 

India's at NAM

After Independence in 1947 india had an opportunity to be a part of any one of the blocks , but india rejected to be one of them and then India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru decided to go for the NAM and carry forward the legacy of Father of the nation. India is one of the founding members of the Non Aligned Movement and India hosted the 7th NAM Summit in 1983 in New Delhi.India always supported the framework of peace and negotiation and never initiated any foul things which harm any particular nation. Hon’ble Vice President Shri M. Hamid Ansari will lead the Indian delegation at the 17th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held at Margarita Island in Venezuela.India uses the NAM as an international platform to address the issue of terrorism and appeal to the whole world to help india to fight against terrorism.