KATHMANDU, JANUARY 18: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has today left for Kampala, the capital of Uganda, to attend the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) being held from 19 to 20 January 2024. He is scheduled to address the summit that is being held under the theme, ‘deepening global cooperation for shared global affluence’ on Friday.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), founded in 1961, is a forum of 120 countries that do not want to align with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with a prime aim to advance the interests of developing countries in the context of the Cold War (between the US and then the USSR). Even in the post-Cold War era, the NAM is trying to maintain its relevance and viability with the participation of leaders in its summit meetings and their reaffirmation of the organization’s five basic principles.
They are territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in domestic affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence. These principles explicitly oppose the colonial/hegemonic mentality shown by any big nation against a small one.
Nevertheless, Nepal has been a victim of such a mentality. And, unfortunately, the political leadership of the country continues to remain shadily passive in this regard. Here we present some instances that justify this fact.
India, which itself is a member of NAM, is indulged in frequent interference in domestic affairs, encroachment of the territory, and maintaining monopoly over hydropower, Nevertheless, the Nepali political leadership is not showing enough guts to counter the very Indian hegemony.
Similarly, Nepal has already signed a Millennium Challenge Corporation-Nepal Compact (MCC) with the US, which seeks to jeopardise the national interests of Nepal. For instance, the pact is fraught with several controversial articles. One of them states, “The Parties understand that this Compact, upon entry into force, will prevail over the domestic laws of Nepal.” This mocks Nepal’s dignity and sovereignty.
Likewise, the Nepali authorities unilaterally supported Ukraine in its war with Russia, signalling a blatant departure from the non-aligned foreign policy. It does not take a political scientist to say that the very move was taken to please the National Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The organisation is using Ukraine as a Trojan horse to weaken Russia.
