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NAM may close its doors on General Musharraf

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Pakistan may be debarred from the Non-Aligned Movement.

At the NAM foreign ministerial meeting in Cartegena, Columbia, which ended Monday evening, Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh sought to push through a resolution that would debar countries ruled by "extra constitutional forces" from participating in NAM conferences, government sources said.

Since the summit has ended, India is expected to work in the interregnum leading up to next year's conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to ensure that a resolution, seeking to effectively bar military juntas from being part of NAM, is indeed passed.

The ministry of external affairs did not have sufficient details about Monday's attempt (whether a final decisions has been taken or not), but insisted that any resolution passed or to be passed will be effective only from the Dhaka summit.

India is expected to work in tandem with Dhaka to effectively prepare a resolution that will show the door to military junta-ruled countries. At present, within NAM there are three such countries -- Pakistan, Ivory Coast and Myanmar.

In his speech at the conference in Cartegena, Singh made a forceful plea to bar countries ruled by "extra constitutional" powers. The NAM resolution was based on a similar one passed by the Organisation of African Unity a few years ago. The OAU is the largest bloc of nations in the NAM.

While Singh did not specifically mention any country by name, few could miss the implication, and unless Pakistan sees a democratic government reinstalled, it may be forced to miss NAM summit meetings.

Incidentally, at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting last year in Durban, South Africa, Pakistan was debarred from participating, as the Commonwealth does not recognise military regimes.

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