What Is NATO And Its Purpose?

New Delhi: Amid the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, one common name has been floating in the news headlines know as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On Thursday, while reacting over the Russia attack on Ukraine, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg warned that if Russia attacked any member of NATO's state, the organization would defend every inch of its territory.

At the same time, NATO has also kept its fighter planes and warships on high alert.

He further asserted that NATO has more 100 fighter planes and around 120 warships which have been kept on high alert. He also apprised that NATO will hold a meeting over the matter on Friday.

Presiding over an emergency meeting of NATO representatives at the organization's headquarters, Stoltenberg said the 30-member military alliance would continue to increase its security on its eastern side near Ukraine and Russia.

''US President Joe Biden will also hold an online meeting with his counterparts from NATO countries on Friday,'' he added.

Notably, Russian troops attacked Ukraine on Thursday and targeted 11 cities simultaneously. Ignoring international condemnation of the attack and sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with Russian action would have consequences they had never seen before.

Since, the NATO's name frequently appearing in the headlines, let us dives into details and looks at its different aspects.

What is NATO and what is its purpose?

NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe which was formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington treaty. NATO's Fundamental goal and purpose is to safeguard the Allies freedom and security by political and military means.

It's committed to peaceful resolution of disputes but in any case if diplomatic efforts do not work, then NATO can use the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.

According to Article 5 of the Washington treaty, NATO's crisis management can include military operation before, during and after conflicts which may be carried out as part of later mentioned article. According to Article 5, ''members agree that an armed attack against one of them in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against them all.

NATO was formed by the U.S., Canada and several Western European countries in 1949 "to provide collective security against the Soviet Union."

How many countries are in NATO?

There are 30 independent countries that belong to NATO, all in Europe and North America. These nations are Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Why is NATO important to the US?

NATO is the most powerful and successful Alliance in history and it marks 74th year this year. As mentioned above, NATO provides security for approximately one billion people in Europe and North America which makes NATO important for US.

Is India is a NATO country?

Indian is not a part of NATO or military alliance as it always maintained its stance to avoid formation of allied groups to gang up on other countries. Interestingly, even when India was a closer partner of the USSR it avoided joining the Warsaw pact and other rival groups of NATO.

Also read: Ukraine Asks Its Citizens To Leave Russia Immediately

Also watch: