New Non-Alignment (NAM) Movement

Context: Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi participated in a video conference meeting of Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) on COVID crisis held in May 2020. This was the first time when PM Modi took part in a NAM meeting since 2014 when he first became the Prime Minister. The last time any Indian PM participated in NAM meeting was in 2012 in Tehran when the then PM Manmohan Singh participated in it.

Relevance: Prelims- Current issues of national and international importance.
 Mains- GS-2 , Bilateral , regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests.

Introduction:

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
•   It emerged as an effort by some countries to counterbalance the rapid bi-polarization of the world during the Cold War, whereby two major powers formed blocs and embarked on a policy to pull the rest of the world into their orbits. One of these was the pro-Soviet, communist bloc whose best known alliance was the Warsaw Pact, and the other the pro-American capitalist group of countries many of which belonged to NATO.
• In 1961, drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference of 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was formally established in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, through an initiative of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesian President Sukarno
•  The main purpose of the organisation was to ensure “the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.
• The Non-Aligned Movement gained the most traction in the 1950s and early 1960s, when the international policy of non-alignment achieved major successes in decolonization, disarmament, opposition to racism and apartheid in South Africa, and persisted throughout the entire Cold War, despite several conflicts between members, and despite some members developing closer ties with either the Soviet Union, China, or the United States
• In the years since the Cold War's end in 1992, it has focused on developing multilateral ties and connections as well as unity among the developing nations of the world, especially those within the Global South.

Members:   
There are currently 120 member countries in the NAM. India is a founding member of the organisation. The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations' members and contain 55% of the world population.

• Our neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan are also members. 
• China has observer status. 
• All African countries except Western Sahara and South Sudan are members of NAM.
• In the Americas, many South and Central American nations are members.
• Among European countries, Azerbaijan and Belarus are members of NAM.
• There are many organisations and countries that are given observer status. Some of them are the United Nations, African Union, Arab League, Commonwealth Secretariat, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, etc.
• NAM does not have a permanent secretariat or a formal hierarchy.

Administration:

• NAM takes decisions by consensus, which need not be universal, but only requires substantial agreement.
• It has a Coordinating Bureau which is based at the UN in New York City.
• NAM meets every three years at the NAM Summit Conference of Heads of State. At the Summit, a chair is chosen, which is a post held for three years.
• At the Summit, a chair is chosen, which is a post held for three years.
• In NAM, every member country has equal weight.
• The current chairperson of NAM is Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan.
• It is the largest inter-country organisation outside of the UN.

 Objectives of NAM:

• One of the chief objectives of NAM was “to create an independent path in world politics that would not result in member States becoming pawns in the struggles between the major powers.”
  The three elements that define the approach of the organisation are:
  •  Right of independent judgement
  •  Struggle against imperialism and neo-colonialism
  •  Use of moderation in relations with all big powers
• In the current times, an objective of the organisation is restructuring the international economic order.
• NAM espouses ideals such as the right to self-determination, anti-apartheid, anti-colonialism, national independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations, anti-imperialism in all forms, non-adherence to multilateral military pacts, disarmament, against racism, against foreign occupation and domination, peaceful coexistence among all countries, strengthening the UN, no use of threat of force in international relations, socio-economic development, etc.

Relevance of NAM:

• The Non-Aligned Movement espouses policies and practices of cooperation, especially those that are multilateral and provide mutual benefit to all those involved
• The Non-Aligned Movement has played a major role in various ideological conflicts throughout its existence, including extreme opposition to apartheid governments and support of guerrilla movements in various locations, including Rhodesia and South Africa
• The movement has been outspoken in its criticism of current UN structures and power dynamics, and advocating for the reforming of the United Nations Security Council, stating that the organisation has been used by powerful states in ways that violate the movement's principles
• Since 1960s and 70s ,the group has supported the discussion of the case of the self determination of Peuto Rico and Western Sahara before the United Nations
• The movement is publicly committed to the tenets of sustainable development. It believes that the international community has not created conditions conducive to development and has infringed upon the right to sovereign development by each member state. Issues such as globalization, the debt burden, unfair trade practices, the decline in foreign aid, donor conditionality, and the lack of democracy in international financial decision-making are cited as factors inhibiting development
• In recent years the organization has criticized certain aspects of US foreign policy like the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the War on Terrorism, its attempts to stifle Iran and North Korea's nuclear plans.
• The Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM CSSTC) as an intergovernmental institution, which enables developing countries to increase national capacity and their collective self-reliance, forms part of the efforts of NAM.

Criticism:

• Lack of pragmatism as it based on ideas of socialism and state control
• Duplicity of efforts as the same issues are taken up by other competitive organisations that are more effective
• The statesmen who started NAM had a vision. But now, there is no leadership on global issues, and there are also disagreements among the members. As a result, the organization has no direction as to the path it should take
• Lack of real issues and effectivity post cold war era
• Change of perspective of countries from non -alignment to multi-alignment
• Ineffective representation of the global south
• Lack of coherence between principles and actions

Present Relevance:

Despite of the the arguments of critics NAM holds importance in the present world as:

• With the growing threat of escalating tensions in the world as a consequence of Russia – Ukraine war , China -Taiwan tensions , ongoing trade war between the US and China and other such issues, there is increased need for the preservation of interests of various small , underdeveloped and developing nations
• There are a lot of issues like climate change, food crisis, poverty, economic inequality , digital inequality, gender inequality, terrorism ,malnutrition, illiteracy ,etc on which NAM can foster better South- South cooperation
•  Even today, NAM can be a global platform where developing and smaller nations can bring to the fore their grievances and press the international community for reforms.
• NAM has become an Integral part of foreign policy. NAM as foreign policy is very much relevant today. Many developing countries like India still follow NAM policy.
• NAM encourages an equitable world order and the organisation can act as a bridge between countries with varying political ideologies and systems.
• NAM, along with the G-77 gives superior numerical strength to developing countries and has helped keep many third world issues ahead of the agenda at the UN. This can also help India’s cause in garnering a seat at the Security Council.
• Also, for India to become an independent pole in global affairs an independent Indian line backed by strong support within the NAM can make a big difference

Need of the hour: NAM’s revitalisation and not abandonment [ NEW NAM]

Thus , the need of the hour is not to abandon NAM as a vestigial organ but to renew and revitalise it to harness its energy based on democratic and pragmatic principles so that it can cater to the needs of the third world countries and help them raise and address their voice and concerns.