Uganda to Host 19th NAM Summit

January 5, 2024

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be visiting Uganda from January 15-20, 2024, to attend the 19^th edition of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit. Strengthening ties with African countries and other nations of the Global South will be a key focus during the visit.

The Non-Aligned Movement

The NAM is a forum of 120 developing countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world. The grouping has 53 members from Africa, 40 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and Belarus from Europe. There are also 18 observer countries and 10 observer organizations.

Key Discussion Topics

The summit is expected to discuss issues like global cooperation, solidarity, and advancing common goals of developing countries related to politics, economics, and culture. As the incoming chair of NAM for 2024-2027, Uganda will set the agenda and priorities for the grouping over the next few years.

India’s Goals

India will aim to strengthen ties with African nations during the visit. Recently, India has hosted several African leaders and supported the African Union’s entry into the G20 as a full member. Having Uganda as NAM chair rather than Azerbaijan is also beneficial for India, as it expects less effort by Pakistan to push its agenda via the NAM platform.

Outreach to Africa

This visit is part of India’s wider outreach to African countries over the past year. At the G20 summit, India facilitated the African Union’s entry as a member, building goodwill amongst African nations. India also hosted ‘Voice of the Global South’ summits in 2023, providing a platform for developing countries to discuss shared interests. Strengthening cooperation with Africa is a key priority.

Areas of Collaboration

Some likely areas of collaboration are sustainable development, food and energy security, digital partnerships, capacity building, health infrastructure and affordable medicines. The leaders may also discuss reforming multilateral development banks to better serve the Global South and increasing sustainable financing access for developing countries.

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