Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh's speech at the conference focussed only on two points -- the principle of democracy as the basis for NAM membership, and the campaign against terrorism. This marked a major departure from the issues which India used to focus in the NAM forums which concerned the interests of the third world against the imperialist countries. Fresh from the declaration made during the Clinton visit that India accepts the United States' global strategy, Jaswant Singh called for making democracy the basic criteria for membership of the NAM.

The immediate motivation for this stance was, of course, the military regime in Pakistan. But more basically, India was echoing the US global drive for 'democracy' and its hypocritical standards. The standards of democracy, as defined by the United States, is itself suspect. As long as Suharto ruled Indonesia with an iron-fist with army backing, the United States was not bothered about democracy there. The stand taken by Jaswant Singh would mean that more than half the countries in the NAM would be disqualified from membership, as they would not meet the US definition of democratic regimes. As long as authoritarian regimes accept US dictates and maintain a façade of democracy, they are considered 'democratic', and therefore would qualify for NAM membership.

Thus founder-member of the NAM, Yugoslavia, will not qualify as it does not follow the American version of democracy. Countries like Cuba which have played an important role in the Non-Aligned Movement in the last two decades would, of course, be disqualified to be members of the NAM.

This debate on democracy in the internal setup of non-aligned countries introduced by Jaswant Singh, is a diversionary and disruptive move. It is meant to derail the Non Aligned Movement from the real concerns of the third world countries -- the offensive of imperialist globalisation, the assault on the sovereignty of independent nations, the growing military intervention in the name of humanitarian intervention and the crushing and widening gap between the rich and the poor countries. That is why this formulation on democracy adopted in the statement to be taken up at the Dhaka Summit next year, has to be opposed by all those who wish to rejuvenate the NAM.

Soon after the NAM's Foreign Ministers' meeting, Havana hosted an important Summit of the Group of 77, which includes all the developing countries. Over a hundred Heads of State will be attending the Summit. The Indian Prime Minister who should have been there, did not go to Havana, reflecting the new tilt towards imperialism. The next person who should have gone is the Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, but he is more than willing to sing the American tune. Afraid that his presence in Havana would be a jarring note in the new honeymoon with the US, he has found it more fit to travel all the way back to India, than make the short trip from Colombia across to Havana. The Vajpayee government has, instead, sent the HRD Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi.