With the end of the Cold War, it was proclaimed that the non-aligned is dead, or it is no longer relevant. The reason being forwarded in support of the argument was that, the purpose for which NAM was launched, is no more relevant, because now the world is unipolar or multipolar as one wants to see with the demise of ex-Soviet Union. But even after this kind of proclamation, NAM is in robust health. This can be inferred from the 14th conference held at Havana in Cuba. The fourteenth Heads of State Non Alignment Conference was held in the second week of September. Since NAM has a system of rotating chair, this was an important event for Cuba, which had not hosted a conference since 1979. However, it was Raul Castro, not Fidel Castro, who officially hosted the Conference.

The two-day NAM Summit adopted the Havana Declaration and the “final document” urging countries to refrain from extending political, diplomatic, moral or material support to terrorism under the UN Charter. The final document expressed concern that terrorist groups, including former Taliban, were regrouping in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan. The efforts of the international community to fight terrorism were being undermined by support, protection and shelter that these forces of destabilisation continued to receive.

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also attended the 14th NAM Summit. While speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Singh underlined that NAM initiative would focus on human resource and agricultural development. It would involve setting up of a mechanism, in cooperation with the African Union, to pool assets for investment in the future of Africa. He said, “India would be prepared to work together with other interested NAM countries on elaborating the NAM Initiative on Africa. To revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement the collective message of the Summit must be seen as being central to the success of global efforts to deal with urgent trans-national issues – be it terrorism, pandemics, energy security or the environment. As a group we have rejected extremes”.

In the conference, the role of the United Nations was appreciated. The United Nations has always played a creative and a critical leadership role in shaping the international agenda. The leaders also discussed reformation of the UN and revitalizing the UN General Assembly. The Non-Aligned Movement, encompassing every religion professed by mankind, every ethnic group, and ideological persuasion, is uniquely placed today; the situation demands that UN should, once again, play the role of a bridge of understanding.

India proposes the establishment of a NAM Working Group on Energy Security to draw up a NAM Action Plan for Energy Security to address the energy challenges of the future. India would be prepared to coordinate such a group. African countries form the largest single grouping in NAM as well as in the UN General Assembly.

The Non-Aligned Movement started with the efforts of like-minded groups of people. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was established when the leaders of 25 Non-Aligned countries plus 3 observers countries attended the 1st Conference of Heads of State or Government of the NAM (NAM Summit) at Belgrade, Yugoslavia from 1-6 September 1961. The establishment of NAM was very much the brainchild of Yugoslavian President Tito, Egyptian President Nasser and Indian Prime Minister Nehru and coupled with the consolidated support of Indonesian President Soekarno and Ghanaian President Nkrumah. In essence, NAM was the product of the Cold War. It was established out of fear of nuclear holocaust perceived as the eventual outcome of the Cold War between the US-led Western bloc against the USSR-led Eastern bloc that dominated the mainstream of world politics from late 1940s until early 1990s.

Now the number of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) membership has gone up to 116. It aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world.

Judging by these numbers, as well as the turnout at the 2006 Conference in Havana, NAM is a movement that will continue to grow in order for developing nations to continue to make their voices heard.