Dr Sudhanshu Tripathi
The 17th Summit of Non Aligned countries of Third World, spreading over the continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America, began at Magarita island in Venezuela during 13-18 Sep. 2016 with all enthusiasm and fervor, though India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not attend the summit and instead its Vice President Mr. Hamid Ansari represented the country, leading Indian delegation. As the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which began its journey in 1961, during highly tense days of ongoing fierce cold war between the two antagonistic blocs led by the USA and the then USSR, as a global movement of just 25 countries, now consists of 120 countries and that proves its continuing popularity and relevance since the origin of the movement after the second World War. Obviously the NAM, which is based upon the doctrine of the Non-Alignment, known as the brain-child of India’s first Prime Minister Late Jawahar Lal Nehru, today has enough grounds to stay as well as sustain because due to continued adherence and upholding of its core ideals viz. “freedom of action” and “independence of judgment” and also “sovereign equality of nation-states”, established by the Peace Treaty of Westphalia of 1648. All these were very popular then among newly independent countries of the Third World because they had long suffered the agony and trauma of centuries of inhuman and wicked course of colonialism and, therefore, they had the sole desire to protect and preserve their new hard won freedom and also to rebuild themselves as independent nations in the international community.
An alternative model of international behaviour:
It was this desire that Late J. L. Nehru sincerely grasped immediately after the second-World War and some other prominent leaders of the Third World, like Marshal Joseph Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, President Nasser Abdel Nasser of Egypt and President Sukarno of Indonesia who proposed an alternative and independent course of action for newly independent Third World countries in the World divided into two hostile ideological camps of capitalism and communism and each vying for increasing its membership by inviting newly independent countries into their respective folds in a bid to consolidate their strength for establishing their supremacy in the world. Thus this dominant desire of the Third World countries later crystallized into the doctrine of “Non-Alignment” and that was first elaborated by Pt. Nehru on 7th September, 1946 in his Radio speech to the nation, even prior to independence of India. In fact, this desire to remain independent of group rivalry and bloc-politics was a very timely remedy to save the world from another impending World War, which was to be a nuclear holocaust in all likelihood, marred by cold war bitter tensions and several ongoing regional wars. In this horrible scenario, the NAM under India’s founding leadership, while deriving its strength and sustenance from India’s ancient cultural ethos and deeply religious traditions advocating eternal moral values, made a clarion call for 3 Ds namely Decolonization, Disarmament and Development- all for the noble cause of establishing permanent peace in the world which had already been torn by the two humanitarian disasters in the form of unfortunate World Wars.
Present turmoil:
Once again, the world is passing through, perhaps, the worst ever phase of terrorism and religious fundamentalism various kinds of heinous and macabre crimes of untold and unimaginable magnitude, besides other challenges like, economic recession, environmental degradation & sustainable development, feudal-monarchic social setup both at national and international level demanding democratization of international relations and reforming the United Nations, violation of human rights, gender bias, child abuse & sexual crimes and many more, which cannot be honestly tackled simply by formulating laws or concluding international treaties. These challenges can only be sincerely addressed if a collective global human endeavor, based upon a value-based and philosophical vision, is initiated under the aegis of the United Nations, representing the global wishes and aspirations. And that vision is truly provided by the doctrine of Non-Alignment which, indeed, stands for equality, justice, fraternity on equal footing, and global peace, thereby paving the way for creating a new world order characterized by these value-based eternal and moral values.
India exhorts:
This is why, the Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari exhorted the movement by his inspiring words: “Our theme for the next three years- Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development- is in congruence with our founding principles.” He made India’s founding position of the NAM clear by emphasizing upon peace and sovereignty being the essential prerequisites for development and cooperation along with ensuring the dignity and development of all humankind. He also recalled the spirit inherent in the unforgettable words of Late Indian PM Smt. India Gandhi about the NAM, “as the largest peace movement of the world” that she had said during the course of the 7th NAM Summit at New Delhi in 1987. He also stressed in the summit that NAM must stand as the vanguard of all substantial international debates on political, social, economic and strategic issues and must also suitably adapt itself to matching times so as to remain relevant and convincingly responsible towards its members, in particular, and the entire humanity upon the mother earth, in general.
Conclusion:
Thus though challenges are grave and threats unimaginable but there is enough scope for sincere efforts with honest intentions and also that one is not alone as there is no dearth of right-thinking people. Let us all unite to defeat all evil forces in the world as nothing is beyond human endeavour.
(The author is Asso. Prof. – Political Science, M.D.P.G. College, Pratapgarh)
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