India,
Indonesia and the countries of Asia and Africa are getting together to mark the
60th anniversary of the landmark Bandung Conference of 1955.
We
recall the close association of India and Indonesia to create the Bandung
Spirit. India convened the Asian Relations Conference to pursue Asian
solidarity in New Delhi in March 1947 with Indonesian Prime Minister Syahrir
attending.
In
January 1949, India mobilized international support for Indonesia by convening
the conference on Indonesia. Attended by 18 countries it asked for the release
of Indonesian nationalistic leaders and handing over power to Indonesia.
In
January 1950, when India became a republic, President Sukarno was the chief
guest and in the same year Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Indonesia.
The
two leaders frequently exchanged views on the future of Asia. With Sri Lanka,
Pakistan and Myanmar they met in Colombo and Bogor to decide on the first
Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955.
In
his inaugural speech, Sukarno said “let a new Asia and a new Africa be born.”
Nehru,
a major motivator of the conference, recognized the profound changes that were
taking place in Asia and Africa. The Bandung Conference took the spirit of
Asia’s political resurgence and the desire for world peace to assertiveness and
promoted the Dasasila, the 10 principles of friendship and cooperation.
This
led to the emergence Afro-Asian countries on the world stage. It gave them
confidence despite immense efforts by countries who were apprehensive of their
emergence as a regional group.
The
Bandung Conference was the first major step by the group of Afro-Asian
countries after the Asian Relations Conference to play a role in post-war
politics.
The
Bandung Spirit was the basis of a new architecture in Asia and though it was
not reconvened in the same form, much of its good work went into the
Non-Aligned Movement. Several countries which were present in Bandung, though,
never joined the NAM process.
The
Bandung principles had four main components: avoid war; resolve conflicts and
disputes peacefully; resist domination and hegemony; and promote development
cooperation.
Today,
60 years after the Bandung Conference, we remain committed to similar ideas:
Seek
concerted domestic and regional action in governance, democracy and economic
development.
Redress
imbalance in the global distribution of power and democratize the United
Nations and other multilateral organizations.
Strengthen
multilateralism to address global issues and collective action for equitable
sharing of the benefits of globalization.
Mutual
help and learning among Asian and African countries through bilateral,
sub-regional and multilateral cooperation.
India’s
engagement with Asia and Africa has been widespread. The Indian Technical and
Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program launched in 1964 was our effort for
South-South cooperation.
A
large number of trainees from more than 150 countries join these programs
annually, where India can modestly share its experience of development.
This
is elaborated in our close engagement with Asian countries, particularly in
South Asia and Southeast Asia, including through the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean).
India
has a robust development cooperation program with Asean countries.
It
emphasizes the narrowing of development gaps by focusing on the CLMV —
Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
With
Africa, India’s cooperation has been based on a shared set of values including
the joint struggle against the problems of poverty, development and political
emancipation.
India
raised its cooperation with Africa by the India Africa Forum Summit in 2008 and
2011, and this process continues. The IAFS 3 will be held this year.
The
Pan African E-network project is a manifestation of India-Africa linkages
through tele-medicine and tele-education. India offers 22,000 scholarships to
Africa and is setting up 80 training institutions there.
India,
Brazil and South Africa under the IBSA rubric have contributed to projects in
various developing countries, including in Asia and Africa.
India
contributes through the mechanisms of the Indian Ocean Rim Organization (IORA),
which Indonesia will chair from later this year.
Through
its renewed Africa policy and the Act East Policy, India’s vigorous engagement
with Asia and Africa continues.
Today
we are jointly struggling against the problems of poverty, disease, illiteracy
and for ensuring sustainable development and political and civil rights for our
people. This is reflected in our multi-dimensional, bilateral and
multilateral cooperation.
However,
in this path of development, India, Africa and Asia are facing common security
challenges.
As
we develop, energy and food security become more important.
The
rise of extremist violence and terrorism has been one of the most disturbing
security phenomena of our time.
India,
Africa and several Asean countries are young countries that need more attention
to human resource development and capacity building.
The
upkeep of maritime security: Though piracy is on the decline in the western
Indian Ocean, there is always a threat. The Indian Ocean’s importance as an
active trade route will grow in the future.
As
we embark upon the concept of the ocean economy as a new pillar of development,
it becomes even more important to secure our seas.
Climate
change is likely to remain an issue of concern in the foreseeable future. The
fine balance between the demands of development and the “greater common good”
will call for deft maneuvering and cooperation among developing nations.
Epidemics
are also a common challenge that can deepen the suffering of our peoples and
have the potential to pose security challenges, as we saw during the Ebola
crisis.
The
Bandung Spirit for a just and equitable order continues. Asia and Africa are
both in consonance to reorder international institutions and reform the UN and
its Security Council where our voices are not being heard. We need more
cohesive Asia- Africa action on this.
We
need to evolve a new strategic vision and build new mechanisms to re-energize
our partnership to address the new challenges to security, development and
peace.
In
order to meet the challenges we need to strengthen our efforts of cooperation
by enhancing people-to-people contact, promoting greater interaction between
institutions, sharing of knowledge and technology, improving business
environment for the private sector to take advantage of the growing
opportunities in Asia and Africa.
A
more participative relationship can be both the gauge as well as the result of
cooperation in the issues of peace, security and development. Thus the Bandung
Conference in 1955 had thought.
Gurjit
Singh is the ambassador of India to Indonesia. He is a committed developmental
diplomat. The views expressed are his own.
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