Hari Sharan Chhabra

AS Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee prepares to attend the twelfth nonaligned movement (NAM) summit in Durban, India’s commitment to the principles and objectives of NAM, implying the freedom of choice and independence of action, remains as strong as ever.

It is a false assertion that NAM is losing its importance in the world context. Perhaps the very size of NAM — 113 member-states — with its members often having varied and at times conflicting interests, has become the reason for its declining leadership role. It is, therefore, important for the founder- members of the movement, countries like India, to work relentlessly for revitalisation and rejuvenation of the role of NAM, especially in regard to the need to promote and safeguard the interests of the developing countries.

It is hoped that at the Durban summit, India, South Africa and other like-minded countries will play a constructive role in promoting South-South cooperation and interaction with the North by addressing the inequalities and severe imbalances in the distribution of economic and political power in the world.

The need for the democratisation of international relations is best reflected in South African as also Indian desire for reform and restructuring of the United Nations in general and the Security Council in particular. Here South Africa’s position is consistent with the Organisation of African Unity’s common stance, which calls for the expansion of the Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories to a total of 26 members. Of the 26 members, five non-permanent and two permanent seats should be allocated to Africa.

Wittingly or unwittingly, NAM has also come round to the African position, which at the Cartagena (Colombia) ministerial meeting this May pointed to the gross under-representation of the developing countries in the UN Security Council, and called for the addition of 11 members, totalling 26. But it remains to be seen whether NAM will let Africa have two permanent members as demanded by the OAU.

As to the priorities of NAM at the Durban summit, the West Asian peace process, the problems of Africa, Afghanistan, Kosovo, global nuclear disarmament, terrorism, the problems of drugs, external debt of the developing world, the East Asian economic crisis and the environment are some of the important issues facing the movement. To address them meaningfully, the movement must maintain its cohesiveness and work in a spirit of consensus.

NAM has also a role to play in the WTO negotiations to advance and protect the trading rights and opportunities of the developing countries and in muscling up their negotiating positions and skills. The movement has to stand up to the arbitrary economic sanctions against the developing countries and to the unfair cutting down of trade quotas with a view to protecting the economies of the developed North.

In the light of the recent American missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan following the bombing of American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, the question of the terrorism receives special attention. At the Cartagena NAM ministerial meeting in May, India firmly called for fighting cross-border terrorism, since it threatened peace and stability at the national and international levels, and undermined the integrity of the affected states.

India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje asked the Cartagena NAM meeting to condemn all kinds of terrorism, particularly the vicious form of cross-border terrorism, its perpetrators and supporters. She said terrorism destroyed social structures, disrupted democratic institutions and blocked economic growth and development.

It is in view of this that Prime Minister Vajpayee on August 22 approved of the US raids on apparent terrorists camps in Sudan and Afghanistan and said that his government would support any international initiative against terrorism. He disagreed with the view that the unilateral US action amounted to an act of state terrorism. “I do not think this is state terrorism. I am not supporting America, but we are for international initiative against terrorism.

”Elimination of cross-border terrorism in Kashmir perpetrated by Pakistan is an extremely important issue for India.

It was a major victory for India when the nonaligned nations meeting in Cartagena, soon after Indian nuclear tests, slammed nuclear weapons states for hindering the process of nuclear-free world and declared that peace and security was essential for the development of the member-states.

There is no gainsaying the fact that India will succeed in getting nuclear disarmament inscribed in the NAM declaration as a matter of priority. — IPA

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Courtesy: The Tribune: 31 August, 2019