The 18th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held in Baku, Azerbaijan, recently drew delegates from across the world, including the Vice President of India. The theme for this year’s meeting was “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world”. This theme was chosen in light of the upcoming 65th anniversary of the Bandung Principles in 2020 and the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2021.
The Bandung Principles, established at the Asian-African Conference in 1955, advocate for world peace and cooperation. The main focus points of this NAM Summit were modern issues such as Terrorism, threats to peace and security, UN reform, climate change, sustainable development, economic governance, and south-south cooperation.
India’s Relationship with NAM
India holds a founding position within the NAM. Though it was actively involved in the NAM meetings until the 1970s, a shift towards the erstwhile USSR led to confusion among smaller members. This shift caused the weakening of NAM, with minor nations gravitating towards the US or USSR. Changes to India’s Economic Policy and increased connection with the US led to doubts about India’s commitment to non-alignment.
With the disintegration of the USSR, the world order became dominated by the US, thus causing NAM to lose relevance for India, especially as India didn’t receive support from the founding members during times of crisis. For example, Ghana and Indonesia supported China during the 1962 war and Egypt, and Indonesia took an anti-India stance supporting Pakistan in the 1965 and 1971 wars.
The Recent Turn of Events
In recent years, India’s Prime Minister has twice skipped the NAM summit in succession, breaking the customary practice of Indian Prime Ministers participating, with the singular exception of the 6th NAM Summit, in which the caretaker PM, Chaudhury Charan Singh, was unable to attend.
| Event | Year | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 6th NAM Summit | Unknown | Caretaker PM Chaudhury Charan Singh missed the summit |
| 17th NAM Summit | Unknown | Prime Minister skipped the summit |
| 18th NAM Summit | Recent | Prime Minister skipped the summit |
India’s Global Engagement
With these shifts in alliances and national priorities, India has started to actively engage with new and traditional global powers. The nation’s entry into the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a coalition seen as a counterweight to China’s rising dominance in the Indo-Pacific, and participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by China, showcases India’s strategic approach to balance power in the new world order.
