PM Narendra Modi likely skip NAM Summit in Venezuela
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to skip the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit to be held in Venezuela next month. Modi may become the second Prime Minister to break the tradition of attending NAM summit. NAM was formulated by world leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, at the Serbian capital city of Belgrade.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez will arrive in India to extend another invitation on Thursday after the first invitation went unanswered. The summit will be held on September 17-18 at Margarita Land.
According to the report, the government had received the invite for PM Modi to attend the summit weeks ago but is yet to accept the same. In fact, Venezuela is sending its foreign minister and oil minister to India tomorrow to extend another invitation.
It will be for the first time that an Indian PM would skip NAM Summit since 1979 when Charan Singh was the caretaker prime minister. In fact, it was the only time when an Indian PM did not attend the NAM meet. It may be remembered that India was among the founding members of the grouping.
NAM, founded in 1961, had brought together countries not aligned with the two major powers of that time — the US and the erstwhile USSR.Analysts say Modi’s likely decision to skip the NAM meet indicates India’s growing closeness with the US. It is evident that under the Modi regime, the US has become India’s most significant strategic partner.
Further, to downgrade India’s engagement with NAM would also indicate New Delhi’s effort to delineate itself from a platform that is seen as anti-US.The development comes after, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decision to not attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) finance ministers’ meet to be held on August 24-25.
The meeting comes amid tension with Pakistan which is the host country, after its cold behaviour towards Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the SAARC interior minister’s meet. It will be for the first time that an Indian Prime Minister would skip NAM Summit since 1979 when Charan Singh was the caretaker prime minister. NAM which was founded in 1961, had brought together countries that had not aligned with the two major powers of that time, the US and the USSR.
As per a Times of India report, analysts are of the opinion that Modi’s decision to skip the NAM shows India’s growing closeness with the US. This is the first time a NAM summit is being held after Modi took over as PM in 2014. While Modi may not attend the event, the government is likely to send foreign minister Sushma Swaraj or Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
