Opinion March 8, 1983, Forty Years Ago: PM Indira Gandhi addresses non-aligned summit

The seventh non-aligned summit opened in New Delhi with a call by Indira Gandhi for a conference of heads of state and government of all UN members later this year to give a fresh collective look at some of the major problems of the world. Addressing the biggest-ever conference of heads of state and government at Vigyan Bhawan, the prime minister made an impassioned appeal to Iran and Iraq to end their “tragic” war.

PM Heads NAM

Indira Gandhi took over as chairman of the seventh non-aligned summit. She will thus lead the nonaligned movement till the next summit in three years. She received a standing ovation when the outgoing chairman Fidel Castro announced her unanimous election as chairman. A smiling Castro handed over to thePM the wooden gavel, the symbol of the chair’s authority.

Advertisement

Castro’s Speech

Fidel Castro told leaders of 101 non-aligned countries that the only solution to their problems lay in the continuation of their struggle with unity and determination. “In the face of the nuclear tragedy threatening us, the drama of under-development and exploitation that oppresses us and the economic and social crisis that scourges us, there is no place for resignation or accommodation. The only solution in keeping with man’s stature is to struggle”, the revolutionary leader said amidst cheers.

Afghanistan Issue

A move was afoot at the non-aligned conference in New Delhi to set up a special group so that the heads of government can come out with an agreed paragraph on Afghanistan in the political declaration they intend to issue at the end of the conference.