India has welcomed the growing adherence to the policy of non-alignment by newly-emerging independent countries in all parts of the world. The non-aligned family has steadily grown in size and strength. Our doors are open to all those countries who are prepared to adhere to its principles and who fully meet the criteria laid down by the non-aligned Heads of Government/State at their first Summit Conference in Belgrade in 1961.
I think it would be useful for the record if I were to recall these criteria. They were:
(i) The country should have adopted an independent policy based on the co-existence of States with different political and social systems and on non-alignment, or should be showing a trend in favour of such a policy.
(ii) The country concerned should be consistently supporting the movements for national independence.
(iii) The country should not be a member of a multinational military alliance, concluded in the context of great power conflicts.
(iv) If a country has a bilateral military agreement with a great power, or is a member of a regional defence pact, the agreement or pact should not be one deliberately concluded in the context of great power conflicts.
(v) If it has conceded military bases to a foreign power, the concession should not have been made in the context of great power conflicts.
The hard core of non-alignment still remains the commitment not to get involved in the rivalries of great powers, not to subserve the interests of their block and not to join their multilateral military alliances, as well as the support for national liberation movements and the pursuit of an independent foreign policy.