5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement

5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement
Venue of the Summit
Host country	Sri Lanka
Date	16–19 August 1976
Cities	Colombo
Chair	Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Prime Minister of Sri Lanka)
Follows	4th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Algiers,  Algeria)
Precedes	6th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Havana,  Cuba)

5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on 16–19 August 1976 in Colombo, Sri Lanka was the conference of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement.^[1] 86 nations participated in the summit with additional 30 observers and guests representing all the continents in the world.^[2] The Summit is the biggest international conference ever held in Sri Lanka and one of the greatest achievements in its foreign policy.^[3] The event took place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, the first purpose-built conference hall in Asia.^[4] It was the first heads of state or government summit of the movement to be organized in Asia.^[4] The decisions on the NAM Coordination Bureau organisation and membership conditions were formally defined at the Colombo Summit.^[5] The body was to have 25 members (12 from Africa, 8 from Asia, 4 from Latin America and 1 from Europe) and was expected to meet regularly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.^[5]

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Sirimavo Bandaranaike prioritized economic issues in discussions motivated both by Sri Lanka's own economic interests and a creation of a more properly non-aligned venue free of extreme anti-western rhetoric.^[6] India, Sri Lanka, SFR Yugoslavia and Indonesia worked together at the conference to temper more radical proposals by some of the newer member states of the Movement.^[2] The conference nevertheless defined Zionism as a form of racism, a definition which was restated at future NAM events.^[5]

The logo of the conference included references to five values of self-determination, economic development, peace and security, solidarity and the denial of colonialism and imperialism.^[7] The Government of Sri Lanka declared the public holiday to enable residents in the capital city to get to the street and see and greet foreign guests.^[7]

Sri Lanka selected senior career diplomats to handle the organization of the event with Dr. Vernon Mendis, High Commissioner in London as the Secretary-General of the Summit, and Leelananda de Silva as the Secretary to the Economic Committee of the Summit.^[4] It was the first conference in which Vietnam took place after the reunification of the country.^[8] The summit was publicly marked in various ways with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka releasing commemorative Rs. 5 coins and two post stamps of Rs 1.15 and Rs. 2 both carrying the portrait of Prime Minister Bandaranaike while the Ceylon Tobacco Company produced a special brand of cigarettes called ‘Summit’.^[4] While the Delegation of Yugoslavia arrived to the city by plane, the country also sent the Yugoslav training ship Galeb to the Port of Colombo ahead of the event.^[5] The ship served as a venue for bilateral and informal meetings with other participants with first lady Jovanka Broz serving as a host.^[5]

See also

• Foreign relations of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka and the Non-Aligned Movement

References

1. 5th Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (PDF) (Report). [James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. 1976.
2. Prithvis Chakravarti (11 April 2015). "Non-aligned Summit: Togetherness in Colombo". India Today. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
3. n.a. (10 November 2016). "Sri Lanka and the Non-Aligned Movement". News from Non-Aligned World. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
4. D.C. Ranatunga (13 August 2016). "When over 90 leaders 'invaded' Colombo". Daily FT. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
5. Tvrtko Jakovina (2011). Treća strana Hladnog rata. Fraktura. ISBN 978-953-266-203-0.
6. Leelananda De Silva (22 August 2021). "The Colombo Aligned Summit". The Island (Sri Lanka). Retrieved 19 September 2021.
7. Jürgen Dinkel (2014). "'To grab the headlines in the world press': Non-aligned summits as media events". In Nataša Mišković; Herald Fischer-Tine; Nada Boškovska (eds.). The Non-Aligned Movement and the Cold War: Delhi — Bandung — Belgrade. Routledge. pp. 207–225. ISBN 978-0-415-74263-4.
8. Van Dong, Pham (1976). "The non-aligned nations and the struggle against imperialism". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 6 (4). Routledge: 526–531. doi:10.1080/00472337685390691.