OPINION | Bandung to Belgrade and beyond: The juggernaut of Global South

This year is the 70th year of the historic Asia-Africa Conference popularly known as Bandung Conference which was held in the historic city in Indonesia from April 18-24, 1955.

The conference was convened at the initiative of India, Indonesia, Shri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar (Burma) and Pakistan and was attended by 29 countries. The conference was a resounding manifestation of the yearning of the newly liberated countries of Asia and Africa for the protection and promotion of their hard-earned freedom and the imperatives of peace for development and cooperation particularly at a time when the colonial powers still clung to the vestiges of their vested interests in the Korean Peninsula, Indo-China and in Indonesia in Asia and elsewhere in Africa.

Afro-Asian leaders who steered the conference included statesmen like Sukarno of Indonesia, Ne Win of Burma, Zhou Enlai of China and Jawaharlal Nehru of India, to name a few stalwarts.

The conference was a landmark event in the annals of world history and was an eloquent statement of the hopes and aspirations of the Afro-Asian countries. The conference eventually led to the birth of NAM in Belgrade in 1961 and G-77 in 1964. NAM lost much of its élan after the end of the Cold War. But the spirit of Bandung traversing through Belgrade, however, permeates the newly emerged Global South, which is a work in progress. The polarisation of the world and the trade war unleashed by President Trump’s reciprocal tariff has added salience to the Voice of Global South.

Although over the years, the historic event has been relegated to the footnote of history, recent developments such as the erosion of multilateralism like the WTO and America’s unilateralism have given resonance to the spirit of Bandung.

Today Bandung is an enduring memorabilia echoing the hopes and aspirations of the decolonised countries of Asia and Africa. The conference didn’t envisage an institutional edifice, but its legacy resonates and its spirit permeates the relations between and among nations. Bandung conference espoused certain laudable values and principles such as economic and cultural cooperation, human rights and self-determination and the promotion of peace. These values are being put to test in recent times for example in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere. The resurrection of the Cold War in the form of a trade war unleashed by President Trump’s unilateralism also underscores the salience of the spirit of Bandung having a bearing on the Global South. The conference was a landmark event in the annals of world history and was a resounding statement of the hopes and aspirations of the Afro-Asian countries.

With India moving closer to the USA which viewed NAM as immoral, India sulks to embrace NAM whole hog. India, however, has not abandoned NAM but has only scaled down its engagement. Last year, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar participated in the NAM Lusaka Summit held at the Ugandan capital Kampala. Global South is the incarnation of NAM. China’s near dominance of the BRICS and SCO, the Global South offers the strategic space for India’s engagement with the world at large.

China is of course vying for the same strategic space with the splurge of resources at its command. India connects with Global South with its Voice of Global South which has already held three virtual summits. India has launched several developmental programs espousing the ideals and objectives of the Bandung spirit and engages with Global South multilaterally and bilaterally.

It is time that the Global South leverage the emerging world order of multipolar world order and President Trump’s unilateralism and withdrawal and disregard for multilateral bodies such as the WTO, WHO and UNICEF. The space vacated by multilateralism should be leveraged by bilateralism and plurilateralism.

India’s ‘Vaccine Maitree’ during the pandemic in 2020-21 echoed the Bandung spirit of South-South cooperation and mutual empathy.  India’s collaboration with France in launching of International Solar Alliance is an example of North-South cooperation in mitigating the effects of climate change. Other initiatives such as the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and the Global Biofuel Alliance are two more examples of the commitment to Global South.

Bilaterally India’s developmental partnership such as the Line of Credit as contrasted with the predatory BRI projects of China in various countries is also illustrative of India’s engagement with the Global South.

Although India has not instituted a formal structure to pursue the aspirations of the Global South, it has convened the Voice of Global South in a virtual mode three times so far and availed its G-20 presidency to highlight and sensitise concerns of the Global South.

The initiative to enlist permanent membership to the African Union (AU) was a loud and clear message to the Global South and the world at large. More needs to be done. Maybe a new division can be created in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to oversee and superintend the work relating to Global South in a dedicated manner.

In recent past MEA has created new divisions like the state division and the Indo-Pacific Division. Also, there can be a parallel meeting of the Global South alongside the Raisena Dialogue for brainstorming and incubation of ideas.

The writer was a former senior fellow of the Monohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and also the Indian Council of Social Science Research.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.

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