SECTION A
Essay
125 marks
Has the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) lost its relevance in a multipolar world?
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The question asks whether NAM, born in the Cold War to keep newly independent states out of bloc politics, still matters when power is spread among the US, China, Russia, the EU and rising states. The examiner expects a distinction between NAM as an institution, which looks weak, and non-alignment as a principle, which has evolved into strategic autonomy and Global South solidarity.
ThesisNAM as a forum has faded, but its core idea of independent judgement has become more relevant in a multipolar and polarised world, now practised through strategic autonomy and multi-alignment.
Dimensions to cover
- 1History: NAM gave newly free nations a voice against colonialism and apartheid, a role largely completed, which explains its institutional drift
- 2India's practice: India has kept ties with the US, Russia, Europe and the Gulf at once, applying non-alignment as issue-based partnerships
- 3Multipolar rivalry: US-China competition and the Ukraine war revived pressure to take sides, giving new value to states that refuse blocs
- 4Global South: debt, climate finance and vaccine access are shared concerns of NAM members, offering a new agenda
- 5Institutional weakness: with around 120 diverse members and no secretariat, NAM struggles to act together, so newer groupings often carry the work
- 6Economy and technology: supply chain and technology alignments now matter as much as military pacts, making autonomy harder but more needed
Counter-view
- Realists argue NAM is a talking shop and India itself prefers the Quad, BRICS and G20. The essay should agree the forum is weak but show these choices are non-alignment updated, not abandoned
Open and close
- Open: Open with the 1961 Belgrade hall where leaders of poor, newly free nations refused to pick Washington or Moscow, then cut to a 2020s Indian diplomat buying Russian oil while joining the Quad
- Close: Conclude that non-alignment survives as India's habit of choosing partners by issue, even if NAM summits matter less
Where marks usually go
- Answering yes or no without separating NAM the organisation from non-alignment the idea
- Treating the world as bipolar or unipolar and ignoring the multipolar premise of the question
- Listing summits and dates without assessing relevance to current crises
Examples that fit
- HistoryThe first NAM summit at Belgrade in 1961, led by Nehru, Tito, Nasser, Sukarno and Nkrumah, set out the idea of staying out of military blocs.Ministry of External Affairs, NAM background documents
- CurrentIndia hosted the Voice of the Global South Summit in January 2023, reviving NAM-style solidarity outside the NAM forum.Ministry of External Affairs press releases, January 2023
- CurrentUnder India's G20 presidency the African Union became a permanent member at the New Delhi summit in 2023, a Global South gain secured through a non-NAM platform.G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration, 2023
- CaseIndia abstained on several UN resolutions on the Russia-Ukraine war while deepening ties with the West, showing strategic autonomy in action.UN General Assembly voting records, 2022-2023
- HistoryPrime Minister Modi skipped the 2016 and 2019 NAM summits, signalling that India values the principle more than the forum.Ministry of External Affairs statements, 2016 and 2019