THE world is now increasingly becoming multipolar. New global actors are coming to the scene as the hegemony of the West is coming apart at the seams. The cyclic economic crises have amply exposed the malaise of the Western political system which it has been touting as the best model to be emulated by the third world. The inherent contradictions of neo-liberalisation-guided and corporate-led globalisation fuelled domestic political crises in many developed nations. Economic inequality, global warming, violent conflict and searing poverty continue to plague the nations. This calls for new adjustment of world order so as to ensure fairness, justice, peace and prosperity for all.
Against this backdrop, high level representatives from 120 countries affiliated to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have gathered in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to attend its 18th summit. Its member states have called for strengthening cooperation to deal with the challenges besetting them. The NAM had come into existence with the objective of reducing the negative impacts of the Cold War that obliged many nations to show their allegiance either to the US or the former Soviet Union. The NAM reflects the voice of new independent nations that were liberated from the clutches of colonial powers and domestic autocracies. The NAM’s spirit is based on Panchsheel (five principle of peaceful coexistence) - mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in domestic affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence.
Participating in the general debate on the theme ‘Upholding the Bandung Principles to Ensure Concerted and Adequate Response to the Challenges of Contemporary World’ during the summit, the heads of State or the government candidly put up their opinions, justifying the significance of the world’s biggest organisation after the United Nations. Chairing the second part of the debate, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli underlined the need for making the NAM more dynamic and effective. He suggested developing the NAM internally cohesive, united, strong and externally influential so that entrenched global inequalities were uprooted for once and for all. “We want to see a NAM that helps leverage the strength and capability of the South so all developing nations build collective strengths to address development challenges to achieve shared prosperity,” he said.
It is imperative for all to implement decisions made in the NAM’s summits in good faith and based on broad consensus. As a founding member of NAM, Nepal has the onus to meet its responsibilities, enabling it to respond adequately to the contemporary challenges. Oli said Panchsheel, derived from the teachings of Buddha, made a perfect sync with the essence of Nepal's foreign policy principle rooted in the motto of 'amity with all, enmity with none.’ He offered his vision of democracy and peace, stating that ‘human rights can find true meaning only in a condition of comprehensive democracy, the essence of which is a holistic empowerment of individual so that one enjoys freedom from poverty, access to equal opportunity, right to life, security and dignity. It is high time the NAM member states made collective efforts in translating their commitment into action to bring visible changes to the life of more than half of the world’s population that it represents.