Insight on the Evolution of NAM, its relevance and 18th NAM summit.

All you need to know about Non Alignment Movement in Indian History

NAM is the policy adopted by India after gaining Independence, through which India decided to maintain principled distance from both the two power blocs (USA & USSR) and focus towards socio-economic development with limited resources rather than procuring arms and weapons.

By the end of 2^nd World War all the countries got divided into two power blocs based on ideological differences. On one hand Western countries were led by USA that formed capitalist bloc, whereas on eastern European countries led by Soviet Union established communist bloc.

Smaller countries realised the need of aligning with either power bloc in order to defend themselves. Under the concept of collective security but India didn’t want to get itself stuck in the prevailing arms race. Therefore, it decided to maintain a principled distance from both the power blocs and rather focus towards country’s socio-economic development.

Important highlights of NAM foundation-

• The co-founders wereIndia’s Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesia’s Sukarno, Egypt’s Gemal Abdel Nasser, Yugoslavia’s Joseph Broz Tito, and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah were all figures of international consequence, and their collective charisma attracted lesser lights from around the world.
• The Asian-African Conference of 1955 held in Bandung was the catalyst for the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.
• The actual formation took place in Belgrade, where the Non-Aligned Movement was formally established by the leaders of 25 developing countries in 1961.

   Relevance of NAM at present

• NAM today has grown into a forum where developing nations could blame all their problems on the big powers.
• It has turned into a platform for some of the world’s most despicable leaders to preen and posture.

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• NAM’s reason to exist ended in 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold War. The world was left with a single superpower, the US, but quickly became multipolar, with China and India emerging as strong magnetic forces in their own right.

 Facts about the latest NAM summit

1. Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu will represent India at the 18th Non-Aligned Movement summit.
2. Prime Minister Modi will skip the meet. This is the second time in a row that PM Narendra Modi will skip the summit (earlier it was in 2016).
3. This step marks India’s transformation from a non-aligned country to multi-aligned. 
4. The only other Indian PM to skipped a NAM summit was Charan Singh in 1979.
5. Though India is stretching away from NAM, India’s neighbours like Nepal and Bangladesh have again reposed trust in NAM.

To be aligned can now be considered as a virtue or a sign of good leadership. At presentcountries, can and should aim for multiple alignments of their interests. There is now no country in the world that can claim to be non-aligned.

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