Addressing the 16th NAM Summit held at Iran’s Capital Tehran on Friday, Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai said Nepal, as a founding member of the Movement and a faithful follower of its ideals, has given a place to the guiding principles of the NAM in the Constitution of Nepal deeming them of timeless values and relevance.
‘We must understand the importance of combined strength and cohesion, which in the past was utilized to break the edifices of colonialism, imperialism, racism, apartheid and many other ill practices in the pursuit of independent international relations based on merit, values and principles’, the Prime Minister said.
The today’s world is characterized by systemic inequality, unilateral tendencies, conflicts of various intensities and an abysmal division between the haves and haves not and the oppressors and oppressed, he said, stressing the need of a global approach to find sustainable solution to the existing and emerging challenges like financial and economic crises, food and energy crises and climate change.
‘The Non-aligned Movement has been a hope for the oppressed, exploited, colonized countries , and is still the hope of billions of disadvantaged and downtrodden people in the world’, Dr Bhattarai further said, adding NAM was created to pursue the goals of peace, justice and equality and it should champion the cause with more vigor.
‘The non-alignment should not always and necessarily mean neutrality when injustice is being meted out’, he said arguing NAM should, therefore, come up vocally and take initiative against repression, invasion, intimidation and injustices.
While addressing the Summit, Prime Minister Bhattarai expressed solidarity for the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people for an independent state.
He also called for the end of violence and peaceful resolution of the current crises in Syria as determined by the Syrian people themselves.
We stand today at the crossroads of history that has promised opportunities as well as new challenges especially for the developing countries, he noted, adding Nepal believes that an environment of lasting peace and security conducive to people-centric development can only be created under strengthened multilateralism.
He said the world has undergone a sea change since the inception of NAM, adding that ‘Nepal firmly stands with the NAM members for global economic justice and a shared prosperity for all’.
‘The prospect of world trade for promoting development in the poorer economies of the NAM member countries has been constrained due to the stalled process of the Doha Development Agenda’, the Prime Minister said, adding Nepal is in favour of open, rule-based, equitable, predictable and non-discriminatory trading as well as financial and monetary systems.
Nepal is in the process of resolving its political problems through the process of dialogue and consensus in order to promulgate a new federal democratic constitution through Constituent Assembly for empowerment of all the people, and then embark on the path of economic development that is inclusive, fair, equitable and just, he added.
‘We have some of the wonderful features of the world including the highest Himalayan range, ancient heritage, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, rich culture and a diverse mosaic of hard working people’, the PM said, adding that we welcome foreign investments to translate our vision into tangible development,.
The Prime Minister also extended special thanks to the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt for providing NAM the leadership and guidance over the last three years since the 15th NAM Summit. RSS