New momentum for NAM

The Non-Aligned Movement has been at a crossroads for some years, but there is hope now that the activist leadership of South Africa will help recapture the dynamism of the past.

JOHN CHERIAN
in Durban

THE turnout of Third World leaders at the 12th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was held from September 2 to 4 in Durban, was impressive. After all, the host for the 1998 NAM summit was South Africa, which until the late 1980s figured on top of the NAM agenda. It would have been hard to visualise at that time that some day South Africa, led by Nelson Mandela, would play a significant role in reinvigorating NAM. It was the presence of the great man as the President of South Africa that brought so many leaders to Durban.

President Fidel Castro of Cuba was there and the friendship between him and Mandela was evident from their long embrace at the opening ceremony. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also received a warm hug from Mandela on the opening day. These gestures showed that Mandela has not forgotten the countries that stood by the South African people during the dark days of apartheid. Some of the notable absentees were Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, who has not recovered from a hip surgery, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

MIKE HUTCHINGS/ REUTERS
NAM Chairman Nelson Mandela delivers his opening address at the summit in Durban on September 2.

Also at the summit as guests for the first time were representatives of the G-8 countries, which includes the United States. Many countries were critical of "guest status" being accorded to the U.S., which until recently had undisguised contempt for NAM. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, however, said that it was a positive sign that the U.S. and other G-8 nations had shown an interest in NAM.

After the end of the Cold War and the apparent triumph of "globalisation", many people feared that NAM would lose its relevance. Many Third World leaders, including those who were once in the forefront of the movement, have questioned in private the rationale for the continued existence of the movement. NAM was at a crossroads for some years, but under the activist leadership of South Africa, matters could look up.

THE crisis in Central Africa, terrorism and nuclear proliferation were the issues that dominated the Durban summit although the South Africans would have preferred the focus to be on socio-political issues such as the negative impact of free market economics on most NAM countries. However, the crisis in the Great Lakes region, involving countries in South Africa's neighbourhood such as Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda, took centre stage.

Matters got slightly out of hand when Zimbabwe accused the South African leadership and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of taking sides with the rebels in Congo. Rancour among the leaders of the Southern African Development Council (SADC), to which many of the countries involved in the conflict belong, was evident. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe made a surprise appearance in Durban, but avoided being photographed along with Mandela. His speech at the summit defended the despatch of Zimbabwean troops to the DRC in support of President Laurent Kabila.

Kabila also made a dramatic last-minute appearance in Durban. He was there only for a day but stole the show. Namibian President Sam Nujoma allowed the time allotted for him to be transferred to his friend, Kabila. Kabila delivered a fiery speech accusing neighbouring countries of invading the Congo and even as United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan rose to speak, walked out of the conference hall. Annan is one of the main votaries of a negotiated settlement in the Congo. What Kabila and his allies want is outright criticism of the "aggression" on the Congo by Uganda and Rwanda.

The Great Lakes crisis continued to dominate the proceedings, when President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda gave his own version of the events. South Africa would have preferred the crisis to be on the NAM backburner. Traditionally, African issues are resolved at forums of the Organisation of African Unity or at a regional level. In Durban, the SADC leaders expressed the optimism that a ceasefire was in the offing.

The second issue that dominated the proceedings was terrorism. The terrorist attacks in August on two U.S. embassies in Africa and the Clinton administration's retaliatory attacks on targets in Afghanistan and Sudan provoked a debate. The majority of NAM members were angry about the unprovoked attack on the pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum. Many leaders equated it with state terrorism.

Sudan wanted a forthright condemnation of the U.S. for its cruise missile attacks on its capital. Initially the consensus was on "condemning" the U.S. attack but the NAM "old guard", comprising Egypt, India and Indonesia, ensured that the final declaration was watered down. The final declaration emphasised its opposition to "selective and unilateral actions" and asked competent U.N. agencies to find ways and means to combat terrorism. It, however, underlined that "international cooperation to combat terrorism should be conducted in conformity with the principles of the U.N. Charter."

Finally, Sudan's plea for an unbiased hearing on the unprovoked U.S. attack was granted. Countries that did not differentiate between the attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan, such as India, had to go along with the overwhelming consensus on the issue. South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, in his press conference prior to the formal opening of the summit, was critical of the U.S. attack on Afghanistan as well.

However, the Afghanistan issue was not raised at the summit. The Government of Afghanistan is still represented by the Northern Alliance. Afghan President Burhanudin Rabbani was obviously not concerned about the U.S. attacks on his arch-enemy, the Taliban. Iran is angry with the Taliban for the brutal killings of its diplomats in Mazhar-i-Sharif. Pakistan seems to have a guilty conscience for having authorised the attacks on the Taliban.

India was, however, very satisfied with the final NAM formulation as it endorsed its demand for the convening of an international summit to formulate a joint global response to terrorism.

President Mandela's opening speech was noteworthy for its emphasis on socio-political issues, which are of great relevance to the movement. He said that one of NAM's immediate challenges was the removal of the burden of "unbearable debt". After taking over the chairmanship of the historic movement, which had an important role in decolonising southern Africa, Mandela said: "What is needed is action by the developed countries and their partners in the South."

According to Mandela, the greatest challenge NAM faced was the "renewal of Africa". He said: "Out of this summit must come the message to which all who adhere to the vision of a humane world should subscribe - that Africa, recognised as the weakest link in the development chain, itself becomes an example of the new world whose time has come." He was critical of the globalisation process, saying that it has imposed a "fashionable orthodox uniformity" according to which all countries must address problems such as budget deficits and unfavourable interest and exchange rates.

A substantial part of Mandela's speech focussed on developmental issues that affected Third World countries. In the latter part of his speech, the South African President talked about conflict situations in various parts of the world, which were of concern to NAM. He mentioned a host of issues, which included the civil wars in Central Africa, the referendum in Western Sahara, the U.S. blockade of Cuba, the situation in West Asia and, to the utter surprise of the Indian delegation, Kashmir.

Only one sentence in Mandela's long speech was devoted to Kashmir. He said: "All of us remain concerned that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should be solved through peaceful negotiations and should be willing to lend all the strength we have to the resolution of this matter." This was the first time that the issue of Kashmir had ever come up in a NAM Chairman's speech.

The only leader whom Mandela singled out for outright criticism was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said: "We remain gravely concerned about the position taken by the Netanyahu administration in Israel, which has blocked progress towards a just and peaceful solution, including the formation of the sovereign state of Palestine."

Although Mandela spoke only a few words on issues relating to nuclear proliferation, South Africa tried behind the scenes to push a critical statement on the proliferation scenario in South Asia in the wake of the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in May. Mandela and his party, the African National Congress, have strong views on proliferation. South Africans said that Mandela felt let down when India conducted its tests and that he refrained from criticising the tests publicly because of the great respect he had for India. At the NAM conference, Mandela said "the critical question of nuclear disarmament" had to remain high on the list of NAM's priorities.

Vajpayee, in his address to the summit, strongly rejected any third party role in the Kashmir dispute, "however well-intentioned" it might be. He said that Jammu and Kashmir could remain an integral part of India. Saying that the real problem was one of cross-border terrorism, he called for concerted action against terrorism. Vajpayee has started articulating a coherent Indian position on terrorism. He said that he was not for unilateral or selective steps against terrorism and called for an international conference to evolve measures to tackle the scourge of terrorism.

Vajpayee devoted a considerable part of his speech to developmental issues. He said that NAM countries had a lot to learn from the economic crisis buffeting East Asia. He wanted them to evolve a common strategy to ensure that decision-making in international financial and trade institutions was equitable and more responsive to the requirements of the developing world.

One of the most sought-after figures in Durban was Fidel Castro. His speech, made on behalf of the Latin American members of NAM, was short. He expressed his confidence in the leadership capabilities of Nelson Mandela and South Africa. His consistent stand on globalisation found widespread acceptance.

It will be no surprise if NAM, under South Africa's leadership, plays an activist role. Undoubtedly NAM needs renewed vigour if it is to recapture the dynamism of the past. The "new kids on the block", led by South Africa, could soon sideline the "old guards" such as India, Egypt and Indonesia if they continue to take NAM for granted.

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