STATEMENT BY MR RAYMOND LIM, MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE AND INDUSTRY, OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AT THE MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT COORDINATING BUREAU, DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA, 27 - 29 APRIL 2002
Chairman, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
1 There is an old African proverb that says, "When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers". In the case of the NAM, we must be very resilient grass. Not many international movements survive four decades. We should therefore be proud that, after 40 years, the NAM is still an organisation that commands attention. The fact that so many countries remain members of NAM is proof that NAM still has an important role to play in the modern international environment.
2 The question now is what should this role be? The NAM was created in a particular environment, for a particular purpose. The environment has changed and our Movement must adapt to remain a relevant international player.
3 When the NAM was formed, our common goal then was to survive and maintain our independence between the two contending superpowers. There may only be one "elephant" left but maintaining this independence is as important as ever. There are many issues in the modern international environment on which a distinct and independent voice would be welcomed. The NAM was formed for the express purpose to be this voice. It is therefore important for the credibility of our Movement that we maintain our ideological independence.
4 Peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention, or as it is now known, the responsibility to protect, and the fight against terrorism are all issues that affect NAM members directly. Many of them are difficult issues, on which NAM presently has no united view. However, when a consensus is reached, it would be stronger because of the diversity of views that have produced it. This is not an impossible aspiration. The NAM has managed to reach a consensus even on the difficult and contentious issue of Security Council reform.
5 Having said that, while reaching consensus is important, we should also move towards an understanding that consensus on all issues is neither realistic nor achievable or even necessary. The issues of our current time are complex. The diversity of NAM's membership makes it inevitable that members would have a wide range of national interests and viewpoints. The challenge is to harness this diversity so that it becomes a source of strength.
6 We need to maintain the NAM's lean and flexible institutional arrangements. These arrangements were created to accommodate the cultural and political variety among its members. The NAM is not a monolithic entity. It is more like a rolling dialogue. We should take great care not to attempt to force the enormous variety of political and social structures found in NAM members into a rigid institutional framework. This could potentially be very damaging in the long term.
7 On issues where consensus is needed, we should aim to have a true consensus. Not one that is artificially created by the need to produce an outcome document. As my delegation has suggested before, the habit of a frank, regular, open-ended dialogue among us might help to achieve this. A quiet discussion without the pressure of having to produce a consensus document, or the pressure to only express well-known national positions, would be a good confidence-building measure within the Movement. On issues where members diverge, such a dialogue would at least enable member states to gain a better understanding of each other's views.
8 The need for genuine dialogue has implications on the format of our meetings. Here, we would like to express our appreciation to our South African hosts for introducing the Roundtable format to this NAM COB meeting. It allows us to move away from our set-piece interventions and work towards gaining a better understanding of each other's perspectives. This internal dialogue will make the NAM both stronger and more resilient in the face of our many challenges.
9 Growing up as a young man in the Cold War era, the non-aligned movement in my eyes stood as a shining, independent beacon of light and hope for the people of the developing world; that wanted a better tomorrow without having to mortgage their sovereignty on the altar of either superpower. So for me, it is an honour and privilege to be here today - to be part of the 40th Anniversary of a proud Movement that continues to do much to make this a better world.
10 Singapore firmly believes that NAM is an important voice in the current international environment, and has a role to play in addressing the complex political, economic and social challenges facing our times. We look forward to the next 40 years of our Movement. Going back to my earlier analogy. We are not the grass that the elephants trample on. We are instead the rich and thriving pastures that is home to a diverse range of life.
Thank you.