Non-alignment redux

Non-alignment redux

Context

What non-alignment means to India depends on the prism through which it is viewed

Background

18th mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) concluded in early April in Azerbaijan 

Importance of NAM

• The idea behind non-alignment thus conceived was to promote peace and security in a global arena where superpowers were constantly posturing to achieve their hegemonic ambitions
• In that context, NAM helped preserve the sovereignty of many young nations, including democracies such as India which wished to follow the path of strategic independence

Is it not far less credible for India to claim to be non-aligned?

• After India joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a coalition seen by many as a counterforce to China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific
• Coinciding with this is Russia’s drift from India and the emergence of a Russia-China-Pakistan trilateral

Conclusion

There is little doubt that India needs to do more to explain what non-alignment means to it now as the global order has changed dramatically in recent years.