Is It Time For NAM Again – Burning Issues

Table of Contents

Question

Do you think the neutral position of the Non-Alignment is still relevant in India’s foreign policy in current times?

BRICS XIV Summit was hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in virtual format which led to BRICS Beijing Declaration.
The Beijing declaration was a consensus document, as each member cited differing “National Positions” on the Ukraine issue.
On the economic front, BRICS attempted to circumvent the western-led sanctions against Russia.
- BRICS’s New Development Bank (NDB) approved about 17 loans totalling $5 billion for Russian energy and infrastructure projects
- BRICS Payments Task Force (BPTF) sought to bring coordination between respective central banks for an alternative to the SWIFT payments system.

While there was no Indian involvement in NATO summit in Madrid but the presence of Indo-Pacific players at NATO summit did raise questions about Indian position.
G-7 Summit at Elmau Germany showed India’s flexibility in dealing with both sides of the conflict. At G7 summit as well as NATO summit, western countries openly targeted Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s economic aggression. India remained tight lipped. India did sign outreach documents on “Resilient Democracies” and “Clean and Just Transitions towards Climate Neutrality” of G7.

After the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, at the UNGA 141 countries voted to pass a resolution criticizing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Only 93 nation voted to oust Russia from the UNHRC. Currently, only 40 odd countries have joined USA & Europe-led sanctions regime against Russia.
This data clearly shows that there is still a large pool of independently-minded countries that do not see it in their own national interest to pick sides outrightly.
Do you remember how NAM originated?