5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on 16–19 August 1976 in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Sri Lanka was the conference of Heads of State or Government of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

. 86 nations participated in the summit with additional 30 observers and guests representing all the continents in the world. The Summit is the biggest international conference ever held in Sri Lanka and one of the greatest achievements in its foreign policy. The event took place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, the first purpose-built conference hall in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It was the first heads of state or government summit of the movement to be organized in Asia. The decisions on the NAM Coordination Bureau organisation and membership conditions were formally defined at the Colombo Summit. The body was to have 25 members (12 from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, 8 from Asia, 4 from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and 1 from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

) and was expected to meet regularly at the

United Nations Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. 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.

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Sri Lanka, SFR Yugoslavia and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

worked together at the conference to temper more radical proposals by some of the newer member states of the Movement. The conference nevertheless defined

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

as a form of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

, a definition which was restated at future NAM events. 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. 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. 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. It was the first conference in which

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

took place after the reunification of the country. The summit was publicly marked in various ways with the

Central Bank of Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...

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’. While the Delegation of Yugoslavia arrived to the city by

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

, the country also sent the Yugoslav training ship Galeb to the

Port of Colombo The Port of Colombo (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an ...

ahead of the event. The ship served as a venue for bilateral and informal meetings with other participants with first lady

Jovanka Broz Jovanka Broz (; sr-Cyrl, Јованка Броз, Будисављевић; 7 December 1924 – 20 October 2013) was the First Lady of Yugoslavia as the wife of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. She was a lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav P ...

serving as a host.

References

{{Foreign relations of Sri Lanka Summit 5th Foreign relations of Sri Lanka Events in Colombo 1976 conferences 1976 in politics 1976 in Sri Lanka

See also

References