Leaders of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries yesterday denounced Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and demanded an immediate ceasefire there, during the annual summit of the 120-member bloc.
Bahrain took part in the 19th Summit of the NAM, which kicked off in Kampala yesterday, under the chairmanship of Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani led the kingdom’s delegation to the summit, with the participation of Bahrain’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York Jamal Fares Al Ruwaie and several Foreign Ministry officials.
The Ugandan President addressed the opening session of the summit. He reviewed the movement’s history and goals since its establishment.
He called on member states to focus on bilateral and multi-lateral co-operation in addressing humanitarian issues and crises, stressing the need to enhance communication among them within the framework of respect for countries’ sovereignty, non-interference in others’ domestic affairs, and respect for states’ right to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Dozens of heads of state and other senior officials from the NAM are attending the summit in Uganda.
In 1961, drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference of 1955, the NAM was formally established in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, through an initiative of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesian President Sukarno.
“Since October 7 we have witnessed one of the cruellest genocidal acts ever to be recorded by history,” Cuba’s vice president, Salvador Valdes Mesa, said in a speech to delegates.
“How can the Western countries, who claim to be so civilised, justify the murder of women and children in Gaza, the indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and schools and deprivation of access to safe water and food?” he said.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union commission, called for an immediate end to what he called the “unjust war against the Palestinian people.”
Nearly all African countries belong to the NAM, comprising nearly half of its members, while other members range from India and Indonesia to Saudi Arabia and Iran, Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Speaking at the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the war in Gaza had demonstrated the inadequacy of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, where the US has vetoed several resolutions critical of Israel.
“We should establish a system of global governance that is fair and equitable, and has the capacity to respond to the needs of all persons in situations of threat and harm,” said Ramaphosa.
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip requires a “sustainable solution that gives immediate relief” to those most affected.
“Right now, the conflict in Gaza is understandably uppermost in our minds. This humanitarian crisis requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected,” Jaishankar said in his address at the summit.
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