Nepal and non-aligned movement

Yuba Nath Lamsal

The 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement has kicked off in Tehran, capital of Iran in which the heads of state and government of the 120-member organization are scrambling to tell their own prescriptions for the problems facing the world at present. Now Iran has taken over the mantle of rotating presidency of the non-aligned movement or the NAM, the largest international organization only next to the United Nations. Egypt had assumed the presidency of the non-aligned movement since 2009 when the 15^th NAM Summit had been held.

The 16th Summit of the non-aligned movement was successfully held in Teheran, Iran, which is being dubbed as a diplomatic victory of Iran. This is so because some powerful countries especially the United States and Israel had been vigorously trying to discourage the world leaders from attending the summit to be held in Tehran. The non-aligned countries simply ignored the call of boycotting the Teheran Summit of the non-aligned movement and attended the conclave, which has not only boosted the diplomatic morale of Tehran but has also saved the non-aligned movement. The summit is definitely important for Iran because Teheran, as the president of the organization, has got the opportunity to lead such a big international organization for the next two years and use this forum for the best interest of the NAM members including Iran.

The non-aligned movement was initiated more than six decades ago as a loose alliance of newly independent countries of the Third World with their resolve not to align with any of the two power blocs dominated by two superpowers of the Cold War era.  In addition to this, the core objectives and goals of the non-aligned movement were to foster greater cooperation not only among the countries of the developing world but also seek assistance, sympathy and goodwill from both of the two blocs—the United States and its allies as well as the Soviet Union and Warsa Pact countries. The NAM became an international symbol for national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and their struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics. With its lofty goals and firm stance for the cause of the developing countries, its popularity soon rose and became a center of attraction for the Third World countries. Started with only 21 countries, the NAM has grown as an organization of 120 countries, which in itself is the manifestation of its popularity.

With the end of the Cold War and bipolar world, some have now started raising the question about the validity of the NAM. According to them, the NAM was relevant as long as two power blocs existed and in the present unipolar world, validity of non-aligned movement is over. In fact, the relevance of the NAM is equally valid as it used to be during the Cold War. The objective of the NAM is not merely to refrain from siding with the superpowers.  The fundamental objectives and ideals of the NAM are five-principles of peaceful co-existence, which have become the lingua franca of the international relations and diplomacy. Thus, the non-aligned movement has, thus, not lost its relevance. Instead its necessity is more pronounced in the present crisis ridden world and it is the responsibility of the non-aligned members to act more vigorously in order to prove the world of the NAM.

The world has undergone a sea change in the last five decade. With the tremendous advancements in the field of science and technology in general and information technology in particular, the world has become a narrow global village. But the basic structure in the Third World and superstructure of the world continue to remain as they were five decades ago. The world continues to be divided between haves and have-nots, between the rulers and the ruled, between the exploiters and the exploited, between the oppressors and oppressed and between the owners and the workers.
There was and is a huge expectation from the non-aligned movement. It is true that the NAM has not fully lived up to popular expectations. But it would be injustice and unwise to dismiss the achievements and gains the NAM has made in the international politics and international relations. In the journey of 51 years, the non-aligned movement has definitely achieved some significant gains. We cannot imagine how the world would have become in the absence of the non-aligned movement especially during the height of the Cold War, which must be taken into cognizant while making evaluation and judgment on its performance. But the non-aligned movement has a lot more to accomplish in fully realizing its noble causes and our common goals of peace, justice and democracy.

Against this background, the 16^th NAM summit is being held. The pressing issues that leaders of the non-aligned countries have raised and discussed with more weight and prominence include the matters of international developments ranging from violence and crisis in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Iran's nuclear program, climate change and widening economic, cultural and technological divide and gap between the rich North and poor South. If NAM has to be revitalized, the organization needs to be reoriented and refocused on issues confronting the world.

So far as Nepal is concerned, it is part of this movement and has been actively taking part in all forums of the non-aligned movement right from the Bangdung conference in 1955, which was the precursor of the NAM. Nepal has always championed and defended the core values of the non-aligned movement. Nepal as an active member of the NAM has robustly contributed in all its Summit meetings and other forums since its foundation with the objective of giving vitality to this organization. It is matter of  pleasure for Nepalese people to note that the non-aligned movement has grown as a robust and representative body. Nepal and Nepalese people want revitalization of the non-aligned movement to achieve its lofty goals in the present world. Nepalese know the value of peace more than others because we, at present, are in the process of institutionalizing peace. We are now in the process of evolving a new political, economic, social, cultural and administrative mechanism which would ensure equal and equitable representation of all people in all levels of administration and decision-making process. The principles of NAM have provided us the guidelines in our efforts to achieve and institutionalize peace in our country. Nepal should, therefore, play active part to make its presence felt in the international forums like the NAM. However, Nepal’s diplomatic maneuvering appears to be weak in recent years which have tarnished our image in the international arena.
When Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai attended the UN conclave on sustainable development in Brazil, he must have realized how our diplomats are ineffective and incompetent. Prime Minister Bhattarai was effortful in meeting with the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao but our diplomats both in Beijing and Brazil utterly failed to arrange the appointment with the Chinese leader. While our diplomats failed to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai and Chinese Prime Minister, our small neighbor Bhutan, which even does not have diplomatic relationship with China, got adequate time of Chinese Premier and discussed at length the issues of their mutual concerns and interests.
The inability of Nepalese diplomatic channel to arrange an appointment with an immediate neighbor in Brazil is shameful. This is just an example that represents overall performance of our diplomacy. There are a number of instances and incidents which are evident of Nepal’s weak diplomatic handling. It is not that Nepal lacks competent and professional diplomats but unnecessary political interference in the diplomatic affairs has taken its toll. Only recently, Nepal’s ambassador to the United Nations was chosen by the secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon to the coveted position of the UN body. This speaks of the fact that we have competent diplomats and they can handle the affairs more successfully and effectively if they were given the opportunity to perform. But there are some diplomats who do not have basic ability to accomplish diplomatic duty. This should serve a glaring lesson for Nepal to reorient and reshaping its policies so that Nepal’s diplomacy becomes stronger and more effective to cope with the newer challenges that have emerged in the international arena.
As per the practice, Prime Minister Bhattarai has taken part in the non-aligned summit in Teheran, Iran, which is an opportunity for Nepal to demonstrate its diplomatic acumen. However, Nepal’s presence and voice was not as effective as it used to be in the past. This shows that Nepal’s diplomatic maneuvering is slowly diminishing that makes our voice in the international arena feeble and less effective. When country’s diplomatic maneuvering capability weakens, it is obvious that the international community listens with lesser worth, which must be taken with utmost seriousness by those who are in the helms of foreign policy.