Knowledge Nugget | Bandung Conference at 70: Key facts for UPSC Exam

Why in the news?

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa summit, which took place in Bandung, Indonesia from April 18 to 24, 1955.

Key Takeaways :

— Twenty-nine newly independent Asian and African countries came together in a historic gathering.

— The conference marked a significant moment for the developing Global South, recently freed from colonial rule.

— Held in Bandung (Indonesia), it sparked a new wave of South-South cooperation and solidarity.

— The conference served as a precursor to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

— Conveners aimed to chart a new path of sovereign, independent, and collective action.

— The goal was to address pressing challenges as newly independent nations.

— Participants shared dissatisfaction with their marginalization on the global stage.

— The countries signed a 10-point declaration or that co-opted the Five Principles or Panchsheel. A 10-point “declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation”, called Dasasila Bandung (Bandung’s Ten Principles, or Bandung Spirit, or Bandung Declaration) are as following:

• Respect for fundamental human rights, and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations
• Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations
• Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small
• Abstention from intervention or interference into the internal affairs of another country
• Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself, singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations
• Abstention from the use of arrangement of collective defense to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers, and abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries
• Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country
• Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations
• Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation; and
• Respect for justice and international obligations

— Shubhajit Roy,in an Explained article of The Indian Express (2015) wrote:

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.

— Anil Sooklal, South African High Commissioner to India, wrote in The Indian Express: 

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.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Panchsheel & The Brioni Declaration

According to an Explained article of The Indian Express,

— What China calls the Five Principles is known in India as Panchsheel, which was a key aspect of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of the world and the relations between nations and neighbours.

— India attained Independence from the British in 1947 after several decades of nationalist struggle. Two years later, the Chinese communists emerged victorious in the civil war, and Mao Zedong pronounced the People’s Republic of China. Nehru was keen to establish good relations with China based on trust and mutual respect, and the Chinese appeared to reciprocate, at least initially.

— In 1954, while inaugurating bilateral talks between India and China over Tibet, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which was favoured by Nehru.

— The word Panchsheel traces its origin to the Buddhist concept of Pañcaśīla, which describes the five moral vows of Buddhism: abstinence from murder, theft, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants.

The Panchsheel Agreement, formally titled The Agreement on Trade and Intercourse with the Tibet Region, was signed on April 29, 1954, by N. Raghavan, India’s Ambassador to China, and Zhang Han-Fu, China’s Foreign Minister.

The agreement’s preamble laid down five guiding principles, known as the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence:

1. Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty

2. Mutual non-aggression

3. Mutual non-interference in internal affairs

4. Equality and mutual benefit

5. Peaceful coexistence

The aim was to boost trade and cooperation between India and China. It included:

• Establishment of trade centres in key cities of both countries
• A clear framework for bilateral trade
• Provisions for religious pilgrimages, including designated routes and passes for pilgrims
  

Significantly, India formally recognized Tibet as the Tibet Region of China for the first time under this agreement.

The Bandung Conference (1955) marked a pivotal moment in post-colonial global diplomacy. It became the precursor to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)—a collective of nations that chose to remain independent from the Cold War blocs led by the United States and the Soviet Union.

NAM was officially founded with the Brioni (Brijuni) Declaration on July 19, 1956, signed by:

• Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
• Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser
• Yugoslav Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito
  

The declaration, signed on the Brioni Islands (now in Croatia), stated:

“Peace cannot be achieved via division, but via striving for collective security on the global scale… by the expansion of the area of freedom, as well as through the ending of domination of one country over another.”

At the first NAM Summit in Belgrade, the Panchsheel principles were adopted as the movement’s core philosophy.