M A I N   N E W S

India for expelling Pak from NAM

CARTAGENA (Colombia), April 9 (PTI) — India today demanded that the membership of military-ruled states like Pakistan should stand withdrawn from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and asked member states to support a comprehensive international convention against terrorism.

Without naming any country, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told the opening session of the NAM ministerial meeting here that autocratic governments which subvert the constitutional process should have no place in the movement.

He cited conventions in the Commonwealth and Organisation of African Unity (OAU) where regimes overthrowing democratic governments were not allowed in their summits. Pakistan has already been suspended from the Commonwealth.

Mr Singh told the two-day conference that the movement must commit itself ‘‘uncompromisingly’’ to democracy, the rule of law and preservation of fundamental rights and liberties.

In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Mr Singh regretted that the image of developing countries got tarred because of ‘‘isolated lapses’’ and that they are seen as states where governance is ‘‘weak, abusive or corrupt’’.

However, Indian officials said the move to isolate military regimes in NAM was not aimed against only Pakistan as there are two other members states — Myanmar and Ivory Coast — who also have autocratic governments.

On terrorism and its linkages with narco-trafficking, Mr Singh urged the movement to work to strengthen the international consensus and legal regimes against the menace.

He said member states should give their ‘‘fullest support’’ to India’s proposal for a comprehensive international convention against terrorism for adoption by the UN.

Declaring India’s commitment to the objective of global elimination of nuclear weapons, Mr Singh suggested formalisation of a no-first-use agreement internationally as a step towards delegitimising nuclear weapons, an approach adopted in the Geneva protocol on chemical and biological weapons.

The draft political resolution proposed by India for adoption by the 13th NAM ministerial conference asked member countries to work for a comprehensive convention on terrorism and demanded an end to foreign military support to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, seen as the breeding ground for terrorist groups.

On the economic front, the Minister said NAM should ponder over the demands made by the developed countries for the developing nations to open up their markets in the name of globalisation, while at the same time, erecting new non-tariff barriers against their exports on grounds of labour and environmental standards.

The minister was also critical of the new doctrine of ‘‘humanitarian intervention’’ proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in September last year saying it ‘‘is bound to erode the fundamental, time-tested principles of inter-state relations such as non-interference in one another’s internal affairs and respect for sovereignty’’.