Bandung conference: Nehru missing from India’s speeches

The only acknowledgment of Nehru’s role was an oblique reference by Swaraj that the conference was a tribute to the “momentous Bandung Conference” which arose out of the meeting of minds of the “visionary leaders of Asia and Africa”.

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“The Bandung Conference itself inherited the mantle of the Asian Relations Conference of 1947 and the Conference of Asian and African Nations of 1949. These meetings had crystallised the ethos and values of our two continents. In the last 60 years, the Bandung spirit has remained a source of inspiration for the leaders of Asia and Africa in their quest for world peace and cooperation,” Swaraj said in her speech on Wednesday.

Official records show that the governments of India, erstwhile Burma, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka co-sponsored the Bandung conference in 1955, bringing together 24 more nations from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The Bandung Conference laid the foundation for the non-aligned movement during the Cold War, with leaders of developing countries banded together to avoid being forced to take sides in the Cold War contest.

Nehru was at the forefront of this process, which led to the establishment of NAM, and his role has been hailed and recognised globally.

Yet, the BJP-led NDA government did not mention Nehru at the conference, even though External Affairs Minister spoke about the Narendra Modi government’s “Make in India” programme.

“We are also focusing on skill development of youth by offering a variety of training programmes. We have also launched the Digital India campaign to transform India into digitally empowered society and knowledge economy,” she said.

Gen (retd) V K Singh said in his speech, “India has always stood for South-South solidarity. Cooperation with other developing countries has been a central tenet of independent India’s foreign policy from the very start”.