As a founding member of the Movement, Nepal is expected to play an important role in the conference that has lately attracted much attention.[break]
Nepal´s participation in the Summit remains continuous since the first summit held in Belgrade, the capital of then Yugoslavia by a delegation led by King Mahendra in 1961.
The Non-Aligned Movement is a Movement of around 121 members representing the interests and priorities of developing countries, originally founded to resist the pressures of the major powers, maintaining their independence and opposing colonialism and neo-colonialism, especially western domination.
The Movement has its origin in the Asia-Africa Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. The meeting brought together leaders of 29 states, mostly former colonies, from the two continents of Africa and Asia, to discuss common concerns and to develop joint policies in international relations.
The Movement formally began to be known as NAM since the first summit held in Belgrade in 1961.
"The movement was very significant during the cold war taking place then between the Soviet Union and America, but now various comments are being made about its relevance", says Nepali Congress leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. However, it could still be relevant for countries like Nepal.
The movement could gain more importance if it is taken ahead as a common platform of countries facing poverty, famine and disease, he added.
Then King Mahendra represented Nepal in the first three NAM summit followed by his son King Birendra from the fourth to the ninth. Likewise, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala attended the 10th and 12th, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in the 11th, Lokendra Bahadur Chand in the 13th, KP Sharma Oli in the 14th and Madhav Kumar Nepal in the 15th summit.
Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai is leading a 14-member Nepali delegation to the 16th Summit. Members of the delegation include Prime Minister´s daughter Manushi Yami Bhattarai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister Jaya Mukund Khanal, Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Joint-secretary Dipak Dhital, Chief of Protocol Dr Niranjan Mansingh Basnet and Under-secretary Suresh Adhikari among others.
The secretary-level meeting prior to the Summit has already been held while Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha left here for Tehran today to take part in the ministerial-level meeting.
Apart from the 121 member states, 17 countries are also taking part in the summit as observers. A total of 50 state are participating with high-level delegations, including 27 presidents, two kings and emirs, seven prime ministers, nine vice presidents, two parliamentary speakers and five special envoys. Some 7,000 participants are expected to attend the summit. Also taking part in the summit is UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon.
Nuclear disarmament, human rights and other regional issues are expected to feature as the main agenda of the Summit that will end on August 31.
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