NAM Foreign Ministers Begin Meeting, Agenda Includes Baku Declaration, Palestine Issue

From R.Ravichandran BAKU (AZERBAIJAN), Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The Preparatory Ministerial Meeting of the 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) began here this morning (about 1.30 pm Malaysian time), with ministers discussing and working on several matters including the Baku Declaration. They will also deliberate on a Declaration on Palestine and the Baku Final Document at the meeting at Boulevard Hotel in Azerbaijan's capital city. The two-day Ministerial Meeting is chaired by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. At this Summit, the Republic of Azerbaijan under President Ilham Aliyev is taking over the chairmanship of NAM for the next three years from Venezuela. The Palestine issue has consistently been on NAM's agenda since its inception; the Movement has reaffirmed its permanent solidarity with the Palestinian people and unwavering support for their just cause. Palestine is also a member of NAM. It must be noted that the Declaration of the Belgrade Conference of the first NAM Summit in the then Yugoslavia in September 1961, attended by 25 nations, mentioned the conference’s support for the full restoration of the rights of the Arab people of Palestine in conformity with the Charter and the United Nations resolutions. At its meeting on July 20 this year in Caracas, Venezuela, the Ministers of the Ministerial Committee of NAM on Palestine emphasised that a fair and lasting solution to the Palestine situation in all its aspects must remain a priority on the Movement’s agenda. Earlier in April 2018, in its capacity as a member of the NAM Troika, Azerbaijan hosted the meeting of NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine in Baku. NAM now has 120 member countries, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organisations. The 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of NAM will be held on Oct 25-26. The Summit is preceded by the Preparatory Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) on Oct 21-22 and the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting on October 23-24. NAM, which had its first summit in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961, was formed at the height of the Cold War as an independent path in international politics for those countries wishing to be free from the influence of superpowers which were led by the Soviet Union and the United States at that time, and not becoming pawns in their ideological rivalry. The founding fathers of NAM are Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and Sukarno (Indonesia). NAM has its basic concepts originating from the Asian-African Conference – also known as Bandung Conference – held in Indonesia in 1955, which was the cornerstone for the movement’s formation later, which, among others, fought for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality among all races and all nations and non-intervention or non-interference into the internal affairs of another country. Malaysia hosted the 13th NAM Summit in 2003 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. -- BERNAMA