and Non-Alignment In the aftermath of Second World War many colonial countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America got their independence from imperial rule. The newly independent countries were upset by the Cold War strategy of USA and USSR. They viewed power blocs as another form of imperialism and so decided to keep away from such politics. Calling themselves countries of Third World, a term coined by French demographer and historian Alfred Sauvy in , they decided to follow an independent and neutral policy in their foreign affairs.
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Bandung Conference In the first Afro-Asian Conference was held at Bandung in Indonesia where states, mostly new independent states, including Egypt, Indonesia, India, Iraq and the People’s Republic of China, gathered to condemn colonialism, apartheid and growing tensions due to Cold War. The conference adopted a 'Declaration on Promotion of World Peace and Cooperation' which included Nehru's Panchsheel and a collective pledge to remain neutral in the Cold War. The ten principles of Bandung later became The World after World War II the guiding principles of NAM. The term "non-alignment" was coined by V.
K. Krishna Menon in at the United Nations. Based on the Ten Principles of Bandung, the First Summit of NAM was held at Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia in . Five members played a prominent role in the foundation of NAM: Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia.
The objective of NAM was to "create an independent path in world politics. The most important objectives included ending of imperialism and colonialism, promotion of international peace and security and disarmament, ending of racism and racial discrimination.” The statement issued at the end of the Belgrade conference also deprecated military pacts with any great power or the permission for any super power to build a military base in its territories. First Non-Aligned Conference, Belgrade The following goals and objectives were set by the proponents of the Non-Aligned Movement