Asia, Africa to mark summit that forged post-colonial path
JAKARTA, Apr 20:  Asian and African leaders gather in Indonesia this week to mark 60 years since a landmark conference that helped forge a common identity among emerging states, but analysts say big-power rivalries will overshadow proclamations of solidarity.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japan’s Prime Minster Shinzo Abe and leaders from several African countries, as well as Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani will attend commemorations of the 1955 conference that laid the foundations for the Cold War-era Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The original conference in 1955 gathered around 30 countries, many of them newly independent after decades of colonialism and foreign occupation, in the city of Bandung on Java island. It was led by Indonesian independence hero Sukarno.
Other prominent figures included Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, who were among leaders who founded the NAM several years later, an organisation for countries that did not want to take sides during the Cold War with either the United States or Soviet Union.
However the NAM has struggled to remain relevant in the post-Cold War era and as its member countries grew in clout, now representing a huge chunk of the global economy.
Some analysts argue the conference is more about big countries — particularly China and Japan — seeking to unilaterally extend their influence with other participants.
China, especially, has been aggressively forging closer links with Africa, whose natural resources help power the country’s growth.
“The bigger states have their own agenda coming here,” said Tobias Basuki, a Jakarta-based political analyst.
With more than 80 countries represented at the five-day conference, Basuki added that it would be hard for such a diverse group of states to reach consensus.
Nigeria’s Bolaji Akinyemi, a former foreign minister, said the original grouping served as “an incubator for emerging nations like ours at independence”, but he added that it was no longer needed as “nations have grown up”.
Ahead of the meeting, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin hailed the “tradition of non-alignment”. (AGENCIES)

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