The 2 day 13th summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ended at Kuala Lumper on February 25. It called upon all countries to cooperate in resolving the issue that had so far help up the efforts at the United Nations for " the conclusion of a comprehensive convention for combating international terrorism". The final document expressed NAM leaders support for the legally binding Security Council Resolution 1373, widely regarded as the anti-terror Magna Carta for mandatory actions by the international community. the leaders rejected the notion of an "axis of evil" on the global stage, denounced terrorism, in all its manifestations and amplified the distinction between terrorism and self-determination in the specific sense of a struggle against colonial domination and foreign occupation. This phraseology, arguably will not cast aspersions on India's policies to combat terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir.
The leaders issued a separate statement on the Iraq crisis by emphsising that the ongoing "disarmament efforts in Iraq should not be an end in itself but should also constitute a step towards the lifting of sanctions in accordance with Security Council Resolution 587".
The summit, in a separate Kuala Lumpur declaration, outlined the steps required for a sustainable rejuvenation of the movement. The issue of Palestine was also addressed with due attension, with NAM reaffirming its traditional position in the new context of an insistense that Israel should be held accountable for all its actions. On North Korea, it advocated that all parties should interact with one another with a view to resolving the current crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
On afganistan, the declaration reiterated its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial intregity and national unity of Afganistan.
On February 24, India and Pakistan clashed at the inaugural session over the Kashmie issue. Pak President Parvez Musharraf made a vain bid to internationalize the Kashmir issue. Our Prime Minister Vajpayee responded by accusing Pakistan of interfering in India's internal affairs.Chairman of the NAM Ministerial Committee and Malaysia 's Foreign Minister Sayeed Hamid Albar endorsed Mr. Vajpayee's sentiments and said the NAM character did nto allow raising of bilateral issues.
ABOUT NAM
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) 's purpose, as declared in the Havana Declaration of 1979, is to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, racism, including Zionism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics".
NAM had its origins in the Bandung, Indonesia in 1955, although the term 'non-alignment' was first coined by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a speech during the previous year in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
In Colombo, Nehru introduced five key pillars as a basis for international relations that eventually formed the basis of NAM. The key pillars, now known as 'Panchsheel' are:
1. Respect for territorial integrity
2. Mutual non-aggression
3. Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs
4. Equality and mutual benefit and
5. Peace co-existence
In April of the following year, the Bandung Conference was convened. The Panchsheel principles were further developed, and the concept of Non-Alignment was first formulated. The world's "non-aligned" nations declared their desire not to become involved in the East-West ideological confrontation of the Cold War. Rather, they would focus on national struggles for independence, eradication of poverty, and economic development.
Bandung marked a significant milestone for the development of NAM as a political movement.
In September six years later, largely through the initiative of Yugoslavian President Marshal Tito and based on the established principles in Bandung, the first NAM summit was convened in Belgrade. The summit saw representatives from 25 countries. Along with Tito and Nehru, the other prominent world leaders instrumental in getting NAM off the ground were Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and General Soekarno of Indonesia. It is also important to note that small and less politically powerful countries such as Cuba and Cyprus had also played critical roles in the evolution of NAM.
Since the Belgrade summit, a series of structured Non-Aligned summit-level meetings have been convened. Subsequent conferences, held approximately every three years, saw increasing participation by developing countries. Issues such as globalisation, South-South and North-South co-operation, debt crisis and international trade, investment flows and disarmament have been and will be predominant on the Movement's agenda. The last few summits also saw different issues and new challenges such as transnational crime, international drug trafficking and HIV/AIDS being addressed.
Given the unique, non-hierarchical administrative style, all member states, regardless of size and importance, have an opportunity to participate in decision-making, thus stimulating vigorous actions.
Today, with a membership of 116 nations, NAM plays a significant role in the post-Cold War world as custodian of Southern interests. Being the largest forum for developing countries outside of the United Nations, NAM is a conducive platform where member states will collectively address economic, social and developmental challenges of the new millennium.
NAM MEMBERS
| 1. Afghanistan | 2. Algeria | 3. Angola |
| 4. Bahamas | 5. Bahrain | 6. Bangladesh |
| 7. Barbados | 8. Belarus | 9. Belize |
| 10. Benin | 11. Bhutan | 12. Bolivia |
| 13. Botswana | 14. Brunei Darussalam | 15. Burkina Faso |
| 16. Burundi | 17. Cambodia | 18. Cameroon |
| 19. Cape Verde | 20. Central African Republic | 21. Chad |
| 22. Chile | 23. Colombia | 24. Comoros |
| 25. Congo | 26. Cote d'Ivoire | 27. Cuba |
| 28. Cyprus | 29. Democratic People's Rep of Korea | 30. Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| 31. Dominican Republic | 32. Djibouti | 33. Ecuador |
| 34. Egypt | 35. Equatorial Guinea | 36. Eritrea |
| 37. Ethiopia | 38. Gabon | 39. Gambia |
| 40. Ghana | 41. Grenada | 42. Guatemala |
| 43. Guinea | 44. Guinea-Bissau | 45. Guyana |
| 46. Honduras | 47. India | 48. Indonesia |
| 49. Iran, Islamic Rep of | 50. Iraq | 51. Jamaica |
| 52. Jordan | 53. Kenya | 54. Kuwait |
| 55. Lao People's DR | 56. Lebanon | 57. Lesotho |
| 58. Liberia | 59. Libyan Arab Jamahirya | 60. Madagascar |
| 61. Malawi | 62. Malaysia | 63. Maldives |
| 64. Mali | 65. Malta | 66. Mauritania |
| 67. Mauritius | 68. Mongolia | 69.Morocco |
| 70. Mozambique | 71. Myanmar | 72. Namibia |
| 73. Nepal | 74. Nicaragua | 75. Niger |
| 76. Nigeria | 77. Oman | 78. Pakistan |
| 79. Palestine | 80. Panama | 81. Papua New Guinea |
| 82. Peru | 83. Philippines | 84. Qatar |
| 85. Rwanda | 86. Saint Lucia | 87. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| 88. Sao Tome and Principe | 89. Saudi Arabia | 90. Senegal |
| 91. Seychelles | 92. Sierra Leone | 93. Singapore |
| 94. Somalia | 95. South Africa | 96. Sri Lanka |
| 97. Sudan | 98. Suriname | 99. Swaziland |
| 100. Syrian Arab Republic | 101. Thailand | 102. Timor Leste |
| 103. Togo | 104. Trinidad and Tobago | 105. Tunisia |
| 106. Turkmenistan | 107. Uganda | 108. United Arab Emirates |
| 109. United Republic of Tanzania | 110. Uzbekistan | 111. Vanuatu |
| 112. Venezuela | 113. Viet Nam | 114. Yemen |
| 115. Zambia 116. Zimbabwe |