NAM Summit in Egypt held at resort city of Sharm el-Sheik on 15 July had the shadow of global meltdown cast over it. This largest assembly of developing countries outside the UN General Assembly converged for their 15th summit and discussed a range of issues such as the global financial crisis, climate change, the Middle East peace process, food security, energy and nuclear issues.

The leaders signed the Summit’s Final Document and Sharm El Sheikh Declaration and approved NAM’s strategy and action plan for the next three years.

The last NAM Summit was in Havana (Cuba) in 2006 where Malaysia passed the leadership mantle to Cuba.

Origin of NAM

NAM was founded in September 1961 by Jawaharlal Nehru, first Indian Prime Minister, former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nasser and ex-Yugoslav president Josip Tito. NAM now groups 118 member states, 16 observer countries and 9 observer organisations. The grouping, which represents nearly two-thirds of the UN member countries and comprises 55 percent of the world population, focuses mainly on the developing world. The 118-nation grouping is mostly of African, Asian and Latin American nations.

Observers say that NAM, born as a movement in the 1950s as a group of nations allied neither with the U.S. nor the Soviet Union (USSR) is facing an identity crisis after it lost much of its relevance when the Cold War ended. In the past two decades, it has become more of a forum for developing nations to meet and brainstorm among themselves.

Meltdown

The agony of ruined world markets that erased trillions of dollars in individual, corporate and government wealth made its echo in the speeches of most leaders. This included calls for greater market regulation and a shift from the use of the dollar as the main foreign reserve currency. The NAM summit leaders were in agreement that their growth and stability are being undercut by a crisis which was not their creation.

India’s Voice

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, in his speech at the summit said, “This economic crisis, the worst in living memory, emanated from the advanced industrial economies. But the developing economies whose members are in our movement have been the hardest hit”.

In his forthright speech at the plenary session of the two-day summit, Dr. Manmohan Singh also made it clear that “terrorists and those who aid and abet them must be brought to justice”. Though he did not name Pakistan it was clear from Dr. Singh’s remarks as to who was his target. Dr. Singh said terror infrastructure must be dismantled and there should not be any safe havens for terrorists because they do not represent any cause, group or religion.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the “economic crisis has revealed the need to improve the international financial architecture, so we may see the developing world and emerging powers gain more of a say in that realm.”

Cuba’s Concern

Cuba’s president Raul Castro called for an international financial system that better takes into account developing countries’ interests. The call by Castro, whose country has been under U.S. sanctions for decades, followed similar demands by the movement’s foreign ministers who stressed that joint action was needed to ward off the global meltdown’s impact.

“We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries,” Castro said, ahead of handing over the movement’s presidency to Egypt.

“There must be a new framework that doesn’t depend solely on the economic stability and the political decision of only one country,” the Cuban leader said apparently referring to the United States. The new system must give developing countries “preferential treatment,” he said without elaborating.

Mubarak’s Address

Inaugurating the summit, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak touched upon the crisis in international financial system and other challenges like climate change and food security. Mubarak recognized the ‘challenge’ facing the movement’s founding principles, saying the group must work closely with developed nations to address the world’s biggest problems, such as terrorism and financial instability.

Mubarak, who was elected chairman of the NAM today for a three-year term, sought international solidarity to enhance world peace and development. The Egyptian leader took over the NAM chairmanship from Cuban president Raul Castro.

Libyan leader Muammar Gadafi said there was a need to re-evaluate the international situation and he wanted NAM to adorn a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

He also suggested formulation of a Peace and Security Council within the grouping.

Declaration

Sharm-el-Sheikh declaration was barely five pages but emphased the need for collective action on the principal global issues of the day. From disarmament and terrorism to climate change, the financial crisis and Palestine, there was virtually no global problem of relevance to the developing world that was ignored. It spelt out a future agenda in 18 substantive paragraphs — as opposed to the 280 contained in the NAM document in Havana in 2006.

On disarmament, the NAM leaders agreed to engage constructively with “concrete actions” to the nuclear weapons states. Recent statements by U.S. President Barack Obama and others had raised hope towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

Middle East Peace

The NAM leaders strongly endorsed the need for a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East based, inter alia, on the recent Arab Peace Initiative in its entirety. They called for the establishment of an independent, contiguous and viable state in Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital and said they stood firmly against all settlement activity illegally undertaken by Israel in the occupied territories.

The summit’s draft declaration called the group to coordinate with China — attending the summit as an observer — to have their voices heard at international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In a reflection of divisions within the NAM on the precise nature of Security Council reform, the declaration emphasised the need to “restore the balance between the principal organs of the United Nations and reaffirm the role and authority of the General Assembly”. This may look in contrast to what India and other countries favour such as a larger enlargement of the permanent category of SC membership. The declaration said “the expeditious reform of the SC through its expansion and improvement of its working methods should continue to be a priority for NAM taking duly into consideration the views of all NAM member states.”

The same qualifier was included in the paragraph calling for the early finalisation of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism — an India sponsored initiative — reflecting differences over some clauses of the proposed terrorism compact.

Climate Change

India is happy at the general endorsement and was pleased with the formulation on climate change and called for strengthening the political momentum in the run-up to the Copenhagen conference “in a manner that duly reflects the views of NAM countries with regard to mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building and shared vision in accordance with the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities.”

This is significant in the context of renewed pressure by the U.S. and other industrialised countries to persuade developing countries into taking a greater share of the burden of averting global warming.

Taking India’s concern on board, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries vowed to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations while making it clear that terror should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group.

UN Reform

The declaration said the NAM countries stood together with China and the Group of 77 countries to press for fundamental reform of the international economic and financial systems and architecture to address its flaws which have come into spotlight in the wake of the global financial crisis.

On the expansion of the Security Council, the declaration sought the ‘expeditious’ reform of the top UN body. The expeditious reform of the Security Council through its expansion and improvement of its working methods should continue to be a priority for NAM taking duly into consideration the views of all NAM members state.

Sanctions

On sanctions imposed on some NAM countries, the declaration rejected them as ‘unilateral’ and in contradiction with international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

The declaration sought to ensure food security for all the member states of the NAM and promised to work with the UN and its agencies to decisively deal with the short, medium and long term actions needed, including the need to address trade and agricultural related aspects within the current negotiations in the Doha round.

On the issue of climate change, it vowed to strengthen the political momentum in preparation for the Copenhagen conference in December in a manner that reflected the views of the NAM countries with regard to issues like mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building and shared vision.

Energy

To shape a comprehensive UN energy agenda, the document said the NAM countries would work for the creation of an effective mechanism to transfer advanced energy technologies to developing nations with the aim of achieving the Millennium Development Goals and dealing effectively with the challenge of climate change.

On disarmament and international security, the NAM declaration said that member nations will continue to promote them on the basis of “equal and undiminished” security for all, bearing in mind that total and complete nuclear disarmament remains the only route to establish a world free from nuclear weapons.

It also noted that NAM members had taken into consideration the issue of nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects and the inalienable right of all states to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

On the issue of self-determination, it said NAM nations will continue to uphold the fundamental and inalienable right of all peoples including all non-self governing territories to guarantee universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On the situation in the Middle East, it said that the NAM nations firmly supported the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their independent, contiguous and visible State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Declaration stated the NAM’s demand to Israel to comply with relevant Security Council Resolutions and withdraw fully from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of June 4, 1967 and to withdraw fully from the remaining Lebanese occupied land.

Taking note of the outbreak of pandemics, including the outbreak of H1N1 in parts of the world, the declaration called for maximising the support for NAM countries from the World Health Organisation and other agencies in building their response capacity to confront the diseases.

The declaration said NAM nations will continue to promote the full implementation of all commitments by the international community to address the special needs of Africa.

It also called for the full implementation of the outcomes of major UN conferences and summits in the economic and social fields and the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

The NAM declaration also backed enhancing dialogue among civilisations and religions to reduce confrontation and promote respect for diversity based on justice, fraternity and equality.