New Delhi (NVI): For the second time in a row, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be attending the 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned Movement and instead the Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will lead the Indian delegation for the event at Baku, Azerbaijan on October 25-26.
Prime Minister Modi had also skipped the earlier 17th NAM Summit that was held in Venezuela in 2016 and instead the then Vice President Hamid Ansari had represented India at the event.
India is one of the founding members of the NAM, which was established in 1961 with 29 members. It has since grown to 120 members to become one of the largest groupings of nation-states.
The Summit will be preceded by Senior Officials and Ministerial Meeting, an official statement said.
The theme for the XVIII NAM Summit is “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of contemporary world.” The Ten Principles of Bandung, a political statement encapsulating the need to promote world peace and cooperation, were formulated at the Asian-African Conference in 1955.
The theme is significant as it relates to the forthcoming 65th anniversary of Bandung Principles in 2020 and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Movement in 2021, the statement added.
The Summit will focus on a whole gamut of contemporary issues such as Terrorism, threats to peace and security, UN reform, climate change, sustainable development, economic governance and south-south cooperation.
The participation of the Vice President would further strengthen India’s engagement with NAM and its member countries.
The Vice President will deliver the national statement at the NAM Summit and hold bilateral meetings with other Heads of States and Governments including the President of the host country, on the sidelines.
-sb/nad
