صحافة واعلام

70 years on, principles of Bandung Conference can guide Global South

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Published: Sunday, 27 April 2025 09:04

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 The Indian Express

70 years on, principles of Bandung Conference can guide Global South

The Global South has to be at the forefront of shaping the evolving multipolar world focused on an equitable global community. The architects of Bandung would expect nothing less of us

By Anil Sooklal

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa summit, which took place in Bandung, Indonesia from April 18 to 24, 1955. Twenty-nine newly independent Asian and African countries met in what was a historical gathering of the leaders of the developing south, recently freed from the devastation brought upon their countries by the ravages of colonial rule. Bandung was to set in motion a new wave of south-south cooperation and solidarity and served as the precursor of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The conveners of the conference were driven by the common goals of seeking to chart a new course of sovereign, independent and collective action in addressing the most pressing challenges as newly independent, developing nations dissatisfied with being at the margins of the global stage.

The reluctance and continued hegemonic actions by the former colonial overlords and other Western powers in their interactions with countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America served as a key factor in bringing the leaders together. For South Africa, the Bandung Conference was a critical platform to bring global attention to the oppressive apartheid regime that governed the country through White minority rule. The African National Congress (ANC), the foremost liberation organisation championing the freedom of the country both within and internationally, sent two delegates to the conference —Moses Kotane and Maulvi Chachalia — to lobby support internationally for South Africa’s freedom struggle. The core principles that catalysed the coming together of Asian and African leaders are as relevant today as they were in 1955. These included political independence, mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression and non-interference in internal affairs.

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