Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): India

India’s place in national diplomacy, significant size and economic prowess made it one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)and torchbearer of the Third World Solidarity by making newly independent countries a part of the movement

This article will focus on India’s role in the Non-Aligned Movement within the context of the Civil Services Examination.

Origins of India’s Non-Alignment Policy

India’s policy of non-alignment was a result of its own colonial experience and its nonviolent independence struggle. It would be determined that an independent India’s new foreign policy should be free from the political domination and economic interference from Western capitalism and Soviet communism.

The term “Non-Alignment” was coined by India’s first defence minister V K Menon during a speech at the United Nations in 1953 and later would be used by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from 1954 onwards. In a speech at Colombo, Sri Lanka that same year he laid down five principles that would be the cornerstone of NAM policy.

1. Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty
2. Mutual non-aggression
3. Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs
4. Equality and mutual benefit
5. Peaceful co-existence

This 5 principles would become the Panchsheel, the guiding force in Indo-China relations

India’s policy of non-alignment brought considerable international prestige among the former colonies who were wary of joining the Cold War alliances of either the United States or the Soviet Union. But certain events such as the signing of a treaty of friendship between the Soviet Union and interference in the internal affairs of its smaller neighbours during the 1980s did tarnish that prestige. India’s rivals in the region felt that New Delhi’s policy of non-alignment and non-interference only applied to countries outside the South Asian region.

India participated in the 1961 Belgrade Conference that officially established the Non-aligned Movement along with Egypt and Yugoslavia.

Role in NAM during the 1980s

During the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1980s, India sought to reassert its role in the Non-Aligned Movement by focusing towards economic development. Addressing the economic grievances of the developing world, India exerted a moderating influence on the Non-Aligned Movement. The 1983 Delhi summit of the NAM boosted its image within the movement but it was marred by India’s pro-Soviet leanings and its position regarding the Soviet-invasion of  Afghanistan

The end of the Cold War left the Non-Alignment Movement bereft of its original purpose and due to this, its members were divided over international disputes, strategy and organisation. During the 1992 Jakarta summit, India took the middle ground between members, such as Malaysia advocating for a confrontation between the developed world and other members like Indonesia that favoured cooperation

Despite playing a minor role in the 1992 summit India formulated the Non-Aligned Movement position opposing developed countries’ linkage of foreign aid to human rights criteria.

Non-Alignment – India: UPSC Exam Notes – Download PDF Here

Post-Cold-War and Beyond

The early 1990s demise of the bipolar world system, which had existed since the end of World War II, shook the underpinnings of India’s foreign policy. The Cold War system of alliances had been rendered meaningless by the collapse of the East European communist states, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The Panchsheel, peaceful resolution of international disputes, and international cooperation to spur economic development which was being enhanced by domestic economic reforms were broad objectives in a changing world. Thus, the 1990s saw India redefining Non-Alignment and the view of India’s place in the world.

To know more about Egypt’s’ role in the Nonaligned Movement, visit the linked article

India also is a founding member of the Group of fifteen, a group of developing nations established at the ninth Non-Aligned Movement summit in Belgrade in 1989 to facilitate dialogue with the industrialised countries. India played host to the fourth Group of Fifteen summits in March 1994. At the summit, Prime Minister Narsimha Rao and other leaders expressed concern over new trade barriers being raised by the industrialised countries despite the conclusion of a new world trade agreement.

In the twenty-first century, India continued to practice the policy of non-alignment which allowed it to maintain national sovereignty while still receiving economic and military assistance when needed. Non-alignment has propelled India to achieve one of its main strategic objectives: non-dependence. In recent years India has used this policy to its advantage in order to strengthen external partnerships and seek out material needs when necessary, while still ensuring that India as a country is able to pursue its own foreign policy goals.

To know more about Yugoslavia’ role in the Nonaligned Movement, visit the linked article

India continues to practice a policy of non-alignment in an attempt to maintain sovereignty and oppose neo-imperialism. Since its inception, the movement attempted to create an independent path in world politics that would not result in lesser states becoming pawns in the struggles between major world powers. Today, India has a working security relationship with the United States. 

Over the course of history, these two countries have inherently forged a deeper sense for each other’s motivations and aspirations while never establishing a formal alliance. India continues to serve as an example of a country that is overcoming the continuum gap and advancing its policies to better fit an emerging world power.

India’s non-alignment policy has made the free development of the individual as well as the economic and social progress of society and of nations its central focus in its strategic objectives. This strategy combines the goals of peace and economic development within the country with the emancipation of peoples from all forms of subordination and exploitation. As a result, India’s non-alignment stance functions as a benchmark for the positive development of international relations on a global scale.

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