NAM endorses democracy norm

By K. V. Krishnaswamy

CARTAGENA (Colombia), APRIL 10. The non-aligned movement late on Sunday night took an apparent leap forward in its evolution, breaking away from the beaten path and proclaiming a new political culture that seeks to give the principles of democracy the primacy of place among its large membership.

The declaration incorporating the democracy norm was approved by the 13th ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement's Foreign Ministers at the conclusion of two days of deliberations, which stretched late into the night. It must be approved by the summit of the organisation, scheduled to convene in Dhaka, in the summer of next year, to become ready for implementation. There is no guarantee it will or can be given the organisation's disparate membership.

If the democracy norm is accepted, there will be three ready candidates who will face expulsion. Two of them are in India's neighbourhood: Pakistan and Myanmar, former Burma. The third is Ivory Coast. All three have until next year to comply.

The democracy promise was inserted through a deft manoeuvre that served to minimise opposition and ensured greater support.

The incorporation of the norm, the first such in the 40-year-old organisation's chequered history, must be deemed a triumph of sorts for Indian diplomacy. Officials stressed that their target was not Pakistan and that they drew inspiration from the action of the Organisation of African Unity which, at its summit in Algiers, adopted the path-breaking principle. They saw every justification for extending to the non-aligned movement a yardstick for membership that has been found to be good enough for the OAU, which groups African nations. Besides, many of the OAU members are also concurrently in the NAM.

A key member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, which is to host a summit shortly, agreed to support the NAM's new principle.

Indian diplomacy scored another triumph when the meeting adopted a strongly worded condemnation of the Taliban and its activities in Afghanistan. The fundamentalist regime, recognised by just three sectarian friendly neighbours, came in for sharp rebuke for continuing to seek a military solution to the crisis in the mountain country.

The Taliban was also criticised for its sponsorship of terrorism. The declaration said, ``we strongly condemn the continuing use of Afghan territory, especially areas controlled by the Taliban, for the sheltering and training of terrorists and planning of terrorist acts.''

The NAM's strong formulation was distinctly aided by the converging interests of India and Iran, both neighbours of Afghanistan. The two Foreign Ministers had an hour-long interaction during the day on the sidelines of the plenary session. Pakistan, a key provider and supporter of the Taliban, obviously found itself sidelined and apparently must have lodged its reservations over the language.

The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, had used strong words against the Taliban when he made his presentation before the plenary on Saturday. The language was perhaps the strongest used by India against the fundamentalist grouping.

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