The Hindu : Terrorism, non-proliferation likely to dominate NAM meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 20, 2003

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Terrorism, non-proliferation likely to dominate NAM meet

By P. S. Suryanarayana

KUALA LUMPUR Feb. 19. An attempt to evolve a consensus on the contours of a new ``non-aligned'' political agenda will begin here tomorrow when senior officials of the 14 member-countries of the Non-Aligned Movement set out to prepare the ground for a two-day summit to be held here early next week.

While the chosen theme of the thirteenth NAM summit is how best to sustain the ongoing "revitalisation'' of the movement in the post-Cold War era, a more definitive political agenda will need to be explored, according to diplomatic sources on the inside track. Topping the list of NAM's concerns, or more precisely that of several major "non-aligned" powers, are the strategic challenges of worldwide terrorism and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), both viewed in the fast-changing context of Iraq and North Korea.

On a more pragmatic plane, some influential NAM powers are no less eager to underline the urgency of making common cause, at the inter-state political level, over economic globalisation. As the NAM members reflect a huge microcosm of the United Nations matrix of immense diversity, any exercise at consensus-building at this undefined moment in global politics will necessarily be a tough proposition, the sources say. An attempt to unite, rather than divide, the NAM countries will, therefore, require a careful selection of priorities.

With most NAM nations being seized of the development challenges on their respective home domains, political coordination over economic globalisation might prove less contentious than the topical strategic issues of war and peace in Iraq as also the Korean peninsula.

The reasoning is that the non-homogenous NAM would be up against the United States, which is "unilaterally'' seeking to determine a new world order by taking a definitive line that both Iraq and North Korea should be disarmed but at a pace and in a manner that Washington would be comfortable with.

As host to the summit, Malaysia is "hopeful'' of securing a conference statement on Iraq on the lines of general opposition to the mechanism of war to address Baghdad's profile as a "WMD proliferator."

However, sources point out, the politics of the current Iraq situation is no Aesop's parable of morality. Absolute unanimity within NAM over open opposition to the present moods and methods of the U.S. over Iraq is not easy to secure. The point made behind the diplomatic scenes is that Malaysia may require much diplomatic skills, because the U.S. has already redefined Iraq's "WMD profile'' as a "terrorism issue.'' On the political question of terrorism itself, Malaysia has often insisted on addressing the so-called "root causes'' in each separate case, while India and others of its line of thinking have harped on the civilisational travesty of terrorism, regardless of the ostensible "causes.''

The view within some key segments of NAM is that the "anti-terror'' perspective of Pakistan, too, might widen or complicate the forum's deliberations on the issue.

While the NAM members belonging to the Organisation of Islamic Conference are expected to explore a separate consensus on Iraq on the sidelines of the summit, North Korea might attract the ``specialist'' attention of some East Asian countries.

China will attend the meet as an observer. At one level, the perceived "dangers'' of America's incremental ``unilateralism'' may impinge on NAM's collective consciousness.

However, the forum will not duplicate the efforts of "specialised'' groups such as "G-77,'' by seeking political cooperation to determine the direction of economic globalisation, it is said. India will be represented at the NAM senior officials' meeting by the Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, besides the Joint Secretary, B. S. Prakash, and the High Commissioner to Malaysia, Veena Sikri, among others.

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