Round Table: India Should Play a Leader’s Role in NAM

August 29, 2012

New Delhi, August 29, 2012: India as the founder member of the Non Alignment Movement (NAM) needs to engage proactively on a number of issues significant to the Movement.

A Round Table on ‘NAM Positions on Nuclear Issues’ was organised by The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the Indian Pugwash Society on August 29, 2012. The panel comprised Ambassador R. Rajagopalan, Ambassador Yogendra Kumar, Dr Manpreet Sethi, Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal and Associate Fellow, IDSA, Mr S. Samuel C. Rajiv. Director General, IDSA, Dr Arvind Gupta chaired the proceedings.

Highlighting the importance of India’s involvement in the NAM activities, the panellists agreed that India should leverage its stature in the NAM to advance the issues of national, as well as international significance.

India should regain its position on nuclear issues and work towards building a consensus on them, instead of leaving the nuclear agendas to other countries. It should also work towards widening the scope of debate by including issues like climate change and economic development.

There are discernible differences in national positions on nuclear issues within the Non Alignment Movement. These differences need to be reconciled.

The NAM, with 120 countries as its members, is an important group in international politics and its voices cannot be ignored. NAM has a position on all aspects of nuclear issues, including nuclear disarmament, nuclear non- proliferation and nuclear energy.