Golden jubilee of Bandung Conference

The Afro-Asian nations met in the Indonesia capital, Jakarta, on Saturday to mark the golden jubilee of the first Afro-Asian conference hosted by Indonesia in April, 1955. In this major international event South Africa has co-operated with Indonesia and both the countries have been able to obtain once again international attention for the Afro-Asian bloc of nations, something that the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference in 1955 achieved.
It is important here to understand the compulsions that led to the holding of the Afro-Asian conference in 1955 and also evaluate the reasons for the high profile celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of that conference which is being attended by heads of states and governments from almost 105 countries of the two continents.
The Bandung conference of 1955 was held at a time when the cold war between the two super-powers at that time - USA and USSR - had become intense. Military blocs were being formed by the two super-powers to confront each other. The Warsaw Pact was in the offing with USSR satellites in Eastern Europe joining it while the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was also taking shape with the backing of the USA.
The People's Republic of China had been kept out of its seat in the Security Council and the General Assembly, Nationalist China, with US backing, holding onto that seat. The Korean war had ended in a military truce reached at Panmujon in which no side emerged winner.
The two superpowers were engaged in a mad race of establishing spheres of influence. The USSR reached out to all areas in Asia and Africa where it could harm the USA, and finally did reach the Latin America with Cuba as a trusted ally, an event that happened much after the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference.
The newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa in the early 50s felt threatened by the push of the USA and USSR to enlarge their spheres of influences, through both covert and overt means. It was also a period in which many of the new independent countries saw neo-colonialism emerging as a threat to their own independence and sovereignty.
Therefore, five countries sponsored the movement for holding the Afro-Asian summit of Heads of States and governments of the newly independent countries in the two continents. These included Pakistan, Egypt, India and Ceylon and Ghana.
The racist regime in South Africa practised apartheid which was denounced by all the newly independent countries of Asia and Africa. The Korean war and its aftermath bad also resulted in the denial of a proper international platform to the People's Republic of China.
Pakistan, along with the other sponsoring nations for holding the Afro-Asian Conference, was keen that China must be admitted to the Afro-Asian forum. The reason was obvious.
The Afro-Asian Conference would be incomplete without China and only the Peoples Republic of China had the credentials to attend the Bandung moot. Accordingly, the Afro-Asian Conference was held in Bandung on April 22, 1955 with President Soekarno playing host to over 20 Asian-African nations that attended the Conference, including China, which sent a delegation headed by its Prime Minister Chou En-lai.
That historic Conference laid the basis for an Asian-African region, free from the influence and pressures of the two super-powers seeking to carve out an identity based on common struggle from colonial rule, common aspirations for political and economic freedom, promotion of cultural exchanges and the establishment of a new platform for Afro-Asian nations to voice their collective opinion on matters of regional and international interest and dimension. It was the hard work of President Soekarno of Indonesia, Prime Minister Mohammad Ali of Pakistan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru of India and President Nkrumah of Ghana that the Afro-Asian nations met in Bandung, agreed on a common agenda and spoke out for the rights of what came to be described as the Third World.

The Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung adopted the Charter of co-existence incorporating the ten points of agreement on governing relations between member nations. Pakistan's contribution to the ten principles was in the form of seven points suggested as pillars on which the edifice of the Afro-Asian Conference was to be built.
These were as follows: I) respect for sovereignty and integrity of each and every country, 2) recognition of the equality of every nation, 3) non-interference in other nations affairs, 4) non-aggression, 5) the right of self-defence, 6) the right of self-determination and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means, negotiations, mediation and arbitration.
The adoption of the ten principles, come to be known as the Ten Bandung Principles, made it clear to the two super-powers that the newly independent Asian-African reject apartheid, seek independence for nations suffering from white minority rule practising apartheid and the recognition of the right of self-determinations for nations struggling for their freedom, especially from colonial rule.
The presence of Premier Chou En-lai and the very important role that he played in the deliberations of the Conference and the finalisation of the Bandung Principles of co-existence also laid the ground for the future enlargement of the Afro-Asian movement.
However, it was the Afro-Asian grouping that led to the international movement against apartheid and its ultimate success. Similarly, the Afro-Asian movement accelerated the process of independence of many of the countries in Asia and Africa which were still suffering from colonial rule.
The presence of People's Republic of China in the Afro-Asian movement led to the increase in weightage of the movement because a billion Chinese, led by Premier Chou En-lai, in the conference showed their willingness for co-existence, a policy by the entire bloc of Afro-Asian nations.
With rising super-power rivalry in the late 50s and 60s, followed by armed conflicts in many of the Asian and African nations, including the Vietnam war, Cambodia and Laos conflicts, the crisis in several African countries, including Congo, the Arab-Israeli conflict leading to indecisive wars, confrontation and wars between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, the polemics between China and USSR till the demise of the USSR in 1991, illustrated the fact that the 10 Bandung principles were ideal for inter-state relationship.
Therefore, the holding of the Golden Jubilee of the Bandung Conference of 1995 in Indonesia on April 22 and April 23, followed by the reiteration of the march forward by the Afro-Asian nations towards an order that gives precedence to the 10 Bandung principles in the unipolar world of today highlights the desire for peace and progress of the 105 Afro-Asian nations that are meeting for this crucial conference.
It is also to reflect the determination of the Afro-Asian nations to obtain for themselves the leverage in international field aiming at co-existence, non-interference, right of self-determination and resolution of all conflicts by negotiation, mediation and arbitration through peaceful means.
President Pervez Musharraf would be a key player at this international moot along with his counterpart President Bambung Susilo Yudhoyono and other Afro-Asian leaders.