18 November 2020, NIICE Commentary 6478
Malavika Nandan
The Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) has now revived its role and is extremely relevant in the current scenario. When Narendra Modi skipped two sessions of NAM, at Venezuela in 2016 and at Azerbaijan in 2019, it was assumed that he neglected the policies that showered India with a lot of development and economic catering.
During a time of crisis, when the world is fighting a pandemic, India could be seen having a strained relationship with China due to tension at the borders. This can force India to forget its legacy of being non-aligned and establish strong ties with the US. India has presently underlined the Non-Alignment Movement, although the reality is way different. NAM was the brainchild of Indian National Congress and not the current government, Bhartiya Janata Party. The Modi government, in its second term have been committed to improve its foreign policies with major powers such as the United States, China, Russia and Iran.
However, to understand NAM, it is very necessary to know about its history. Jawaharlal Nehru inherited a number of malnourished and famished people when India attained Independence. At that point of time, the world was divided into two power block led by the United States and the USSR. They had ideologies that oppose each other, the capitalism of the west and the communism of the east. The Americans and the British feared the spread of communism and the influence it would have on western countries. A foundation for the cold war was in sight from 1947-1948, when the US had provided aid and brought certain countries under western influence while at the same time, the USSR had paved the creation of a communist regime.
The NAM resulted due to the opinions of newly decolonised and underdeveloped countries. They did not desire to be a pawn in the war between the two power blocks. These countries were in fact struggling and often did not agree with the western countries on their policies and decisions. That facilitated the need for an organisation to voice their opinions. The NAM had its first summit in 1961 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamel Abdul Nasser and Josip Broz Tito.
One of the earliest actions taken by Jawaharlal Nehru was the Asian Relations Conference in Delhi. It was here, that the foreign policies of an Independent India were introduced. In the Afro-Asian conference next, more than 29 countries participated which made it a huge success. These countries had just gained independence and were still on the verge of developing from their extreme poverty.
Non alignment necessarily meant that these countries knew that war was inevitable but there are ways that it could be avoided. This gave them a way to judge the various problems without being biased or being attached to a particular power. The basis of this policy was that India was neither pro-east or pro-west, it will remain neutral.
NAM can, however, be very effective in dealing with the contemporary issues, such as emergence of a new cold war. This is well seen between the US and China. Until some time back, India maintained a very neutral approach, wishing not to be a part of the antagonism between China and the US. However, after the border clashes that killed almost 20 soldiers and had a number of casualties, the separation of China and India seems likely.
India has always tried to maintain strategic autonomy. It does not see any benefit in getting closer to the US and have an alliance with China as it would benefit it in terms of economic development of the country. The US has also been witnessed in exhibiting extra efforts to capture India and be closer to it. It has renamed its Pacific command as Indo-Pacific command and their alliance can be seen with respect to the arms purchases and military exercises.
As mentioned above, for their security, India and the US can be seen as allies based on their cooperation in the Indo-pacific region but they do not identify themselves as an ally. This is mainly because not being an ally, gives them more diplomatic space and the freedom to engage with various countries.
There are problems on economic front as well if India-China relations deteriorate. As demanded by the Indian nationalism, the decoupling of economy of China and India would cause problems in their economic relations. Hence, for financial security as well, India can easily find a place with the US though they are not complementary in terms of development. Purely seen from an economic perspective, China is India’s biggest opportunity as they have low cost manufacturing to high technology end manufacturing.
World now, is characterised by multipolarity and interdependence, hence going back to isolation to have an independent opinion is not easy. Most of the countries are allied with superpowers, hence, cannot take independent decisions. They are, however, now divided on economic front. The south is still in poor and underdeveloped with huge economic gap. Neo-colonism is still being faced by many of these countries. India can help them by providing leadership to the global south countries to come together and use its soft power as it has always done. Rather than using economic or military methods, let the countries join based on mutual respect and cooperation. It can also help them in voicing their opinion better and the south cooperation will lead to better economic development as well.
NAM is extremely important for the restructuring and democratisation of the UN, as it is accused of working as per the decisions of a few countries. World Trade Organisation and United Nations face problems as they are dictated by those few top countries, hence, there is a need for re-structuring. With NAM, the underdeveloped countries can come together and fight for it. Even at the time of pandemic and other disasters, NAM countries could provide greater support as India has the largest pharmaceutical companies and can provide medicines at affordable rates.
