South-South Solidarity

Why South-South Solidarity in 2011?

What I want to discuss here are the reasons why South-South Solidarity is so relevant in 2011. This is part of a rethinking process that has been going on for the past six months in reconstituting the organization. South-South Solidarity was founded in 1986, and that was an important point in history as there was an appeal made by Mahatir Bin Mohamad, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, in the Non-Aligned Meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe that a south commission be set to promote south cooperation. This held considerable interest for developing countries that were looking for different arenas of trade and cultural exchange that went beyond the so-called 'North' 'South' trade links. This history shaped the vision and mandate of the organization.

India had been deeply involved in the Non-Aligned Movement from its inception in Bandung in 1961 when Tito, Nassar and Nehru developed the Panscheel agreement. India had gained as an anti-colonial power by its very Freedom Struggle. This influenced a large number of other nations to become sovereign states. After 1947, seventy-three countries claimed independence. The world, which had been governed by a couple of dozen countries, was now made up of well over a hundred countries. These countries had joined the Non-Aligned Movement which later led to the foundation of the 'group of 77, a bloc of south countries that coordinated policy decisions in the General Assembly at the United Nations.

India as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement provided the Secretary General, Manmohan Singh for the South Commission that was under the leadership of Julius Nyere. The South Commission came out with its report in 1990 entitled, "The Challenge to the South". It was a serious assessment of ways of harmonizing trade, economic and cultural interests among 'south' countries.

The relationships that had forged the Non-Alignment Movement began to break apart in the 1990s. As India moved toward privatization and liberalization domestically, it became apparent that regionalism was giving way to a unipolar globalization. The race for expanding military spending has put India tenth largest nation on exports of military equipment. With the underground nuclear test in Pokaran in Rajasthan in 1998, namely, Shakti, India demonstrated that it too wanted to exercise economic power because it had nuclear capability. Accelerating industrialization meant that large amounts of energy resources had to be found; integral to this was the nuclear energy import agreements, increased coal production, and high costs of oil imports.

The change in direction has led to a development trajectory that now focuses on urbanization as opposed to rural development. Large-scale industrialization is appropriating the natural resource base at rapid pace. This has resulted in a large number of struggles around control of natural resources.

Getting back to the reasons why we need South-South Solidarity, I don't think people in India realize how people outside the country may view India as representing a new brand of colonialism, if they do not know other people in the country who continue to press for peace and justice both domestically and globally. For this reason South-South Solidarity's goal of constantly educating and exposing others to various developing countries; and to aim to build a kaleidoscope of different partnerships through a network is an important people's agenda.