Attending the first Non Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Mrs Bandaranaike became a founding member of the Movement along with great world leaders like Nehru, Tito, Sukarno, Nasser and Nkrumah. Speaking in Belgrade, Mrs Bandaranaike said “I am happy to attend this great conference not only as a representative of my country but also as a woman and a mother who can understand the thoughts and feelings of those millions of women.” Believing in the value of the Movement and its potential at time when the world had rapidly divided along the lines of the blocs, Mrs Bandaranaike noted that “our endeavour should be to influence world opinion to such an extent that governments, however powerful, cannot regard warfare as an alternative to negotiation.” Thus began her long association with NAM that saw her attend every summit until the fifth summit in Colombo in 1976 at which Sri Lanka was elected to head the Movement with Mrs Bandaranaike at the helm.