Non-Aligned Movement Established in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1961
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was formally established in September 1961 at its first official summit held in Belgrade, which was then the capital of Yugoslavia. This movement emerged during the Cold War era, with its founding members opting to remain independent of the two dominant blocs: the Western bloc led by the United States and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union. Key leaders instrumental in the formation of NAM included Tito of Yugoslavia, Nehru of India, Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia, and Nkrumah of Ghana. The groundwork for non-alignment was laid earlier at the Bandung Conference in Indonesia in 1955, an Afro-Asian gathering that produced the principles later adopted by NAM, and through the Panchsheel agreement between India and China. The movement's establishment in Belgrade marked a significant step in formalizing this stance of neutrality and independent foreign policy among newly independent states.
