Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Alan Ganoo, called for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to press, in the wake of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, for the strengthening of the international health system, for a better distribution of vaccines and a speedy transfer of technology. The Virtual Mid-term Ministerial Conference of the NAM is spanning over two days. The theme for this year is, “Non-Aligned Movement at the center of multilateral efforts in responding to global challenges.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Mr. Alan Ganoo, made this appeal in a statement delivered yesterday, during the NAM Ministerial Conference hosted by Azerbaijan.
Minister Alan Ganoo evoked key challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic which he stressed is a grim reminder of our vulnerability to new dangers. According to him, it is critical that NAM members accelerate their collective efforts on all fronts to bring some normalcy to our societies.
Without collective and decisive action, in a real spirit of solidarity and collaboration, our very existence is at stake, he said.
In addition, the Minister dwelt on the issue of incomplete decolonisation, and spoke about Mauritius’ battles as regards the Chagos Archipelago and the maritime delimitation between the country and Maldives. He expressed gratitude for the continued support of the NAM as regards these matters.
He deplored that despite the ruling of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, UK continues to illegally occupy the Chagos Archipelago. He appealed to the NAM membership to denounce the stand taken by UK, and to support Mauritius in challenging UK’s membership in all fora and regional organisations where UK purports to represent the Chagos Archipelago.
He also pointed out that the struggle of the Palestinian people remains at the core of NAM’s political agenda. He called upon the Movement to continue its advocacy and take a proactive role in finding a lasting solution to this conflict.
Moreover, the Foreign Affairs Minister underscored the need to maintain international peace, security and stability. He opined that the size of the NAM’s membership should echo a strong message that conflicts, whether overt or latent, have no place at a time when the priority should be a collective effort to ward off the many challenges that we are all facing.
Furthermore, the Minister underpinned the country’s support to the Political Declaration of the NAM.
