Non-Alignment Movement (NAM)

 The term “non-alignment” is used to describe the foreign policies of those states that
refused to align with either of the two blocs led by the two Superpowers i.e. the
US and the USSR, and instead, opted to pursue an independent course of action
in international politics.
 The NAM emerged when individual non-aligned states (primarily from Asia &
Africa) came together and coordinated their efforts on a common platform.
 It changed the nature of inter-state relations by enabling the newly independent
developing countries to play a significant role in world affairs.
 It was an assertion of independence in foreign policy.

Factors that Led towards the Formation of NAM

1. One of the foremost objectives of these states was economic development for which
they needed resources in the form of economic assistance as well as increased trade.
Non-alignment enabled them to have economic relations with all countries.
2. The second imperative was the need for peace without which there could not be real
development.
3. A third source was that their need be secure from global threat perceptions emanating
from Cold war politics.
4. Other domestic imperatives also existed which varied from country to country.
 For example, in the case of India, its internal political plurality, its political
processes, its historical role and geographical position were important
contributing factors for the emergence of non-alignment.

Myths Related to NAM

1. Some Western scholars have persistently confused non-alignment with isolationism,
non-commitment, neutrality, neutralism and non-involvement.
2. Non-alignment is not neutrality. Non-alignment is a political concept, whereas,
neutrality is a legal concept.
 Unlike neutrality, non-alignment is not a law written into the constitution of
the state.
 Neutrality is a permanent feature of state policy, while non-alignment is not.
  Further, unlike neutrality, non-alignment is not negative, but is a positive
concept.

Rationale of NAM
1. NAM stands for:
 An active role in world affairs
 Friendship and cooperation with all countries
2. It consists of taking an independent position based on the merits of each issue and on
the requirements of national interest.
3. It is not directed against any ideology but seeks to promote peace and friendship in
the world, irrespective of ideological differences.
4. Non-aligned nations continuously opposed the politics of the Cold War
confrontations.
5. They underlined the necessity of “building peace” and “peace zones” in a world of
clear bipolarism.
6. Non-alignment was also not a policy based on opportunism which tried to gain
advantage by playing one power against another.

Membership of NAM
1. The membership was open to all the countries.
2. The condition was that country has not joined any military alliance in context of
great power politics.
 Thus, NAM does not prohibit country from joining alliance from the
perspective of its own national defence.
3. At present, the strength of NAM is 120 i.e. 2/3rd of the UN members.
 Among them, 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.
4. NAM is the second-largest platform globally in terms of country membership
after the UN.
Objectives of NAM
1. NAM has sought to “create an independent path in world politics that would not
result in member States becoming pawns in the struggles between the major
powers.”

2. It identifies the right of independent judgment, the struggle against imperialism and
neo-colonialism, and the use of moderation in relations with all big powers as the
three basic elements that have influenced its approach.

3. At present, an additional goal is facilitating a restructuring of the international

economic order.

NAM Summit
1. NAM meets every three years at the NAM Summit Conference of Heads of State.
2. At the Summit, a chair is chosen, which is a post held for three years.

Evolution of NAM
Jawaharlal Nehru from India, Gamal Abdal Nassar from Egypt and Josip Broz Tito
from Yugoslavia took the first step in building this movement.

 Among these first architects Nehru would be specially remembered.

 His early perception about the rise of neo-imperialism and the
consequent insecurity that would be faced by the smaller states, made a
major contribution towards building this movement.
 Nehru believed that the countries of Asia and Africa, should build up
an alliance of solidarity to fight against neo-imperialism.

1940s: As a first step, he tried to organize an Asian Front in the 1940s.

1947: In 1947, he called an Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi.

1950s: In the 1950s, as the states of Africa started gaining independence from colonial rule it
became necessary to expand the base of this front.

1955: The basic concept for the group originated here. Nehru together with leaders of
Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan convened an Afro-Asian Conference at
Bandung in Indonesia. It is also known as Bandung Conference.
 It highlighted the political and economic insecurity that was threatening the
newly independent states at the time.
 However, Bandung Conference failed to build a homogenous Asian and
African front as a number of these States did not agree to conduct their foreign
relations under the banner of anti-imperialism.
 They had either already joined the various Western military alliances or had
closely identified their interests with that of the Western Powers.
 The rift between the two groups was visible at Bandung itself.
 As a result, in the post-Bandung years, it became necessary to build up an
identity for the non-aligned states on the basis of principles and not on the
basis of region.
 From this platform, the “10 Principles” known as Bandung Principles
became the objectives of NAM.
 As Pt. Nehru was founding members, the principles of NAM were largely
guided by Panchsheel principles, some of them are:
 Respect for the principles enshrined in the charter of the United
Nations and international law.
 Respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality and territorial integrity
of all States.
 Peaceful settlement of all international conflicts in accordance
with the charter of the United Nations.
 Respect for the political, economic, social and cultural diversity of
countries and peoples.
 Defence and promotion of shared interests, justice and
cooperation, regardless of the differences existing in the political,
economic and social systems of the States, on the basis of mutual
respect and the equality of rights.
 Respect for the inherent right of individual or collective self-
defence, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations
 Non-interference in the internal affairs of States. No State or
group of States has the right to intervene either directly or
indirectly, whatever the motive, in the internal affairs of any other
State.
  Promotion and defence of multilateralism and multilateral
organizations as the appropriate frameworks to resolve, through
dialogue and cooperation, the problems affecting humankind.

1956: The effort united these states. At Brioni, Yugoslavia, Tito conferred with Nehru and
Nassar on the possibility of making real the unspoken alliance which bound them together.

1961: The NAM was founded under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal
Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, and
Sukarno of Indonesia.

 The first non-aligned conference was held at Belgrade in 1961.

 Five basis were determined and applied, for countries to be members of the
NAM.
 Only such countries as fulfilled these conditions were actually invited to the
conference. These were:
 Independent foreign policy, particularly in the context of Cold War
politics
 Opposition to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations
 Should not be a member of any of the military blocs
 Should not have concluded any bilateral treaty with any of the two
superpowers
 Should not have allowed military bases on its territory to a
superpower, qualified for attendance at the Belgrade summit.

1964: The Cairo summit was attended by 46 countries.

1970: The third summit at Lusaka was attended by 52 countries.

 It rejected the proposal to establish a permanent secretariat of the NAM.

1973: It was held in Algiers and was attended by 75 countries.

1976: The Colombo summit was attended by 85 countries.

1979: The purpose of the NAM was enumerated in Havana Declaration of 1979 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 subjugation.

 As there was a caretaker government in India, the then PM Charan Singh

decided to send his foreign minister to represent the country at the sixth
summit at Havana.
 The number of participant rose to 92.
 Pakistan was admitted to the Movement and Burma (a former member)
left the NAM.
 The Cuban President Fidel Castro described the former USSR as a natural
friend of the NAM.

1983: The Seventh Summit (due in 1982 at Baghdad) could not be held in time due to Iran-
Iraq War.

 It was held at New Delhi in 1983 and attended by 101 countries.

1986: The Harare Conference adopted the Harare declaration.

 It sought greater economic cooperation among its members and North-South

cooperation for faster development in the South.
 The summit gave a call for new International Information and Communication
Order to end the western monopoly over news disbursement.
 NAM decided to set up a fund called Action for Resistance against Imperialism,
Colonialism and Apartheid.
 In abbreviated form it came to be known as the AFRICA Fund.

1989: The Belgrade Summit was the last one to be held before Yugoslavia disintegrated and
at a time when Cold War was just ending.

1992: The tenth conference at Djakarata was the first assembly of NAM after the end of
Cold War.

1995: The eleventh NAM Summit was held at Cartagena (Colombia).

2012: PM Manmohan Singh attended the NAM Summit at Tehran.

2016 & 2019: PM Modi became the 1st Indian PM to avoid attending NAM Summit – 1st in
Venezuela (17th Summit) in 2016, and 2nd in Azerbaijan (18th Summit) in 2019.

 Azerbaijan was the president of the grouping from 2019-2022. The title of the
summit was “We stand together against COVID-19”.
 Surprisingly, Covid crisis led to the renewed interest of PM Modi in the NAM
platform.

2021: 60th Anniversary of NAM

January 2024: 19th Summit of the NAM held in Kampala, Uganda.

 Theme: “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence.”

The Evolving Agenda of NAM

1. 1st Phase (1960’s): During this phase, the agenda was “decolonization”.
 NAM succeeded in this agenda.
2. 2nd Phase (1970’s): Development was the agenda during this phase.
 NAM floated the idea of New International Economic Order (NIEO).
 However, no achievement was made in this regard.
3. 3rd Phase (1980’s): The agenda during this phase was “disarmament”.
 Rajiv Gandhi presented plan for disarmament at the UNGA and argued for
time bound universal disarmament.
 Rajiv Gandhi’s plan was supported by the Soviet President Gorbachev.
 However, the agenda did not succeed.
4. 4th Phase (1990’s): During this period, NAM was in search of agenda.
 At the Ghana Summit of NAM, many original members of NAM like Egypt
proposed the dissolution of NAM.
 NIEO
Economists widely used the New International Economic Order (NIEO) concept in the
20th century. While the broader political agenda of the South was primarily set and promoted
through the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) process, the economic agenda was driven
primarily by the expanding Group of 77 (G77) members and the newly created trade
organization, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). By
1973, these two parallel processes had converged with the call for a NIEO at the NAM
summit in Algiers.
NIEO is a movement adopted by the developing nations to end economic colonialism and
dependency by creating an independent economy. The NIEO was officially proposed for
the first time at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in April 1974.
The assembly vowed “to work urgently for the establishment of a new international economic
order based on equity, sovereign equality, common interest and cooperation among all
states, irrespective of their economic and social systems, which shall correct inequalities and
redress existing injustices, make it possible to eliminate the widening gap between the
developed and developing countries and ensure steadily accelerating economic and social
development along with peace and justice for present as well as future generations”. The
existing economic order was unjust; hence it was necessary to establish a new international
order to develop cooperation between developed and developing nations.
Mahiou defined NIEO as the “means through which the new states that emerged as a
result of decolonization from European colonial rule get an opportunity to participate
effectively in international political, social, cultural and economic arena.” Thus, NIEO
mainly reflects the political claims of the so called Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in
the post-colonial era.
The main theme around which NIEO’s philosophy revolves is ‘‘economic independence’’ –
basic and must for political sovereignty of LDCs. In other words, the political independence
of any state is reflected in the economic capability and strength of any state. Thus, with the
aim of political independence, NIEO treated economic autonomy as a means, not as an end
in itself, to all other sovereignty of LDCs. As Olaniyan, noted that “trade balance, if
possible, in favor of LDCs, is one of the utmost economic aims of NIEO.” The same
writer presented a paper in a Nigerian forum reads as follows regarding this point:
“…NIEO from the very beginning never calls for a balanced flow of resources rather it
calls for flow of capital and technology in favor of LDCs which basically seek the
restructuring of the pattern of international trade and the flow of capital and technology so
that their benefits could be more equitably distributed to the developing countries.”
According to Johnson, NIEO has three key connotations. These are:
1. NIEO shows that there is something wrong with the existing system of international
economic relations among nations and their citizens. Thus, there is a need for taking
some measures to correct the problem in the existing system which is unfair,
problematic, and one sided (i.e. benefiting the west at the expense of LDCs).
2. To the existing problems of LDCs, the so called developed world bears the greatest
responsibility. Thus, the developed world should compensate LDCs by accepting the
NIEO.
3. However, the overhaul of international political and economic order requires a
massive shift of political power from few most powerful superpowers of the United
Nations (UN) with veto power to the voting assembly of the UN.
Rise of Third World & the Need for NIEO

During the Cold War, the term “Third World” was formulated to describe the countries that
did not align with the West (NATO) and the East, the Communist Bloc. French
demographer Alfred Sauvy first used the term Third World in an article titled “Three
Worlds, One Planet,” in 1952. The present world is divided into three categories based on
political and economic divisions.

1. First World represents countries like the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the
Western European nations.
2. Second World includes the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and
their allies.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the
terminologies like developing countries, least developed countries and the Global
South were replaced, and the title “Third World” was coined.
3. Third World generally includes countries with a colonial background like Africa,
Latin America, Oceania and Asia.
The Rise of the Third World

Third world countries are economically backward, with high birth rates and high financial
dependence on the developed nations. In August 1945, after Japan surrendered to end the
World War-II, it was followed by the demand for independence by many domestic nationalist
movements across the Asian colonies. The US and the Soviet Union desired to impact the
newly-formed nations of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the West Asia.

The majority of today’s Third World countries were once under the domination of the
European nations. These nations are economically least developed and dependent on
powerful countries. They were dependent upon the European powers primarily for
technological and financial assistance. On the other hand, the Western powers began to
exploit most parts of the African and Asian societies because of their raw materials, human
resources and territory. However, with World War-II, the colonial rule also ended, and an
independent, sovereign third world emerged.

The Need for NIEO

The NIEO was adopted in the Sixth Special Session of the UNGA in 1975. It is a movement
between the developed and periphery countries to restructure the existing economic order,
which is presently dominated by the Western and European countries. Challenges faced by
the developing or LDCs countries:

1. High Population: Most of these countries are characterized by rapid population

growth, indicating more mouths to feed with limited resources. Lack of family
planning, religious beliefs and poor medical developments are some of the leading
reasons for the rapid rise in population growth.
2. Unemployment: The labour force is highly under-utilized in these countries. People
are willing to work but have no work or lack job opportunities. This eventually leads
to low living standards.
3. Poverty: Poverty is one of the standard features among these countries. It is primarily
due to high income inequalities. A large amount of money is concentrated in the
hands of few. According to the World Bank (WB) estimates, 97 million people were
in extreme poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
4. Low Literacy Rate & Lack of Medical Facilities: Poor educational structure and
lack of medical facilities lead to high illiteracy rates among most LDCs and
 developing nations. The rate of illiteracy is much higher among women. Moreover,
poor medical facilities and lack of basic sanitation facilities often results in high death
rates.
5. Political Instability: Political stability and economic growth go hand-in-hand. On the
one hand, economic growth cannot occur in countries facing political disturbance.
Many foreign investments quit and drive away from countries under political
turbulence. On the other hand, a fall in government or regime can immediately have a
decisive blow on the nation’s economic growth. For instance, Afghanistan’s economic
growth slowed down after the re-emergence of the Taliban regime in the year 2021.

Objectives and Aims of NIEO

The primary goal of NIEO is to stimulate economic development among the least developed
and developing countries through self-help and South-South Cooperation. This action
programme is against the currently existing economic order, favouring only the developed
and powerful countries. It seeks to promote the more rapid economic development of the
developing countries and grow their share in the world’s trade at favourable terms of trade.
NIEO further demands de-politicization in the inflow of political and private direct
investment from the developed to peripheral countries. The key objectives are:

1. Related to Assistance: A just international economic order can be established if the

developed nations are empathetic towards the underdeveloped or less developed
nations when it comes to the requirement of aid. Such cooperation can help the less
developed and underdeveloped countries to eliminate poverty and achieve balanced
regional growth.
2. Related to Trade: Another way through which a just international economic order
can be established is when the developed countries help the underdeveloped countries
to correct their balance of payment deficit.
3. Related to Industrialization & Technology: The developed and developing
countries should enter into negotiations about the possible shifting of the industrial
capacity of the developed countries to the Third World.
4. Democratic Global World Order: Establishing just economic world order is also
one of the primary objectives of NIEO.
5. Reforming IMF, WB and UNO: Reforming global governing institutions would
lead to establishment of equal world order.
 6. Social Issues: The NIEO is responsible for dealing with social problems faced by the
international community through the cooperation of the developed and less developed
countries.

However, there has been strong opposition from the powerful countries as they have a vested
interest which will not result in any fruitful outcome and actions in various negotiations and
implementations. In addition to this, developing countries have very weak negotiating
capacities and powers – a weak trade link between LDCs and the socialist bloc.

India’s Role in Establishing NIEO

As a leader of the NAM, India played an important role in establishing NIEO. As the
movement of non-alignment expanded, the nature of NAM adapted to include the economic
issues of the Third World. India played a crucial role in advocating and furthering the social
and economic interest of the Third World at the international platform, attempting to secure
increased South-South cooperation and facilitate North-South dialogue (UNCTAD, 2022).

India used all its diplomatic channels to promote the establishment of a NIEO. The NIEO
demanded restructuring of the international system to favour developing countries more
than developed countries. India played a decisive role in amending the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules to allow the imposition of import restrictions by
developing countries and improve their exports.

India built its position as a critical facilitator in “south-south cooperation”. South-South

cooperation has been one of the significant pillars of Indian foreign policy toward democratic
world order. India has been sharing her knowledge and expertise on the experience of
development with neighbouring and other developing countries through different frameworks
and platforms from multilateral to regional.

India’s Panchsheel principles were incorporated into the “Declaration on the Promotion of
World Peace, and Cooperation” in the Bandung conference laid the strong foundation for
south-south cooperation. India also provides technical relief and funding via multilateral
forums.

India is also advocating NIEO through its multilateral alignments. India is a member of
Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS), India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA),
Russia-India-China (RIC) and G4 Nations initiatives, which are aimed at creating multi-
polar world order.
Indian representatives played a crucial role in setting up the UN conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) as a part of the UNGA. The conference’s goal was to promote
social progress, a more effective system of international economic cooperation and better
standards of life for the developing nations. India has mobilized its resources to push forward
the movement to establish NIEO.

Special steps were also taken to achieve industrial development like application of scientific
methods, acquisition of technology and skills, and managerial capacities. Thus, it is clear that
India played an influential and substantial role in establishing NIEO.