THIS year is the 70th anniversary of the historic Bandung conference, a landmark moment for the global majority.

It was the first-ever summit-level meeting of independence leaders from Africa and Asia and is a beacon for the new mood of determination to break the largely “flag independence” that followed the end of colonialism.

Bandung provides important lessons for the global majority on how to meet the challenges of creating a new multilateral world.

This will be the defining geopolitical project of the remaining three-quarters of the 21st century which must have both Africa and Asia at its heart.

The historic conference in Bandung, Indonesia, took place from April 18-24 1955.

The gathering included China’s Zhou En Lai, Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru, president Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, U Nu of Burma and the host, president Sukarno of Indonesia.

Leaders from Liberia, Sudan, Gold Coast, Jordan, Iran, Ceylon, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines were also present.

It took place against a backdrop of a world increasingly divided between East and West. Conference delegates vowed not just to take a middle ground in the cold war but to assert their own right to independent thought and action.

Many Western powers, including especially the US, were hostile to the conference and the notion of any alliance between the nations of Africa and Asia.

The US feared that they would lose their ability to control the nations of Africa and Asia and lose access to the natural resources that they and their allies had plundered for many years.

They were right to fear this because this is exactly what should happen when the former colonies unite and assert their own agency.

The challenge to the control exerted by the US and its allies over these huge continents through their application of debt and international aid policies is also a blow in favour of genuine independence.

Sukarno’s opening speech is well worth recalling.

In the speech, Sukarno issued a clear warning to all the leaders at the conference not to believe that colonialism was dead.

He said: “We are often told ‘Colonialism is dead.’ Let us not be deceived or even soothed by that. I say to you, colonialism is not yet dead.

“How can we say it is dead, so long as vast areas of Asia and Africa are unfree?

“And, I beg of you, do not think of colonialism only in the classic form which we of Indonesia, and our brothers in different parts of Asia and Africa, knew.

“Colonialism also has its modern dress, in the form of economic control, intellectual control, actual physical control by a small but alien community within a nation. It is a skilful and determined enemy and it appears in many guises. It does not give up its loot easily.”

Sukarno added: “Wherever, whenever and however it appears, colonialism is an evil thing, and one which must be eradicated from the Earth.”

The other 28 leaders gave equally eloquent speeches that also warned about the dangers of colonialism and called for maximum unity, self-determination, mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and, not least, equality.

The final statement of the conference provided the basis for global majority co-operation with concrete proposals for promoting economic, political, technological and cultural spheres.

It also declared support for the cause of freedom and independence for all peoples and denounced all forms of colonialism and racism.

Showing that the demand for changes to the structures of the UN is far from new, the leaders also demanded changes to the representation of African and Asian countries on the UN security council.

It is worth setting out in full the Ten Principles that were agreed at the conference:

1. Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and the principles of the charter of the UN.
2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations large and small.
4. Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country.
5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity with the charter of the UN.
6. (a) Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defence to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers,
(b) Abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries.
7. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
8. 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 UN.
9. Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation.
10. Respect for justice and international obligation.

The statement concluded by declaring that friendly co-operation in accordance with the Ten Principles would contribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security, while co-operation in the economic, social and cultural fields would help bring about the common prosperity and wellbeing of all.

What became known as the “Bandung spirit” led to the establishment in 1961 of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and continues to inspire global majority co-operation.

The NAM was followed by the establishment of the Group of 77 in 1964.

These two multilateral groupings of the global majority provide a collective voice in the UN and other international arenas to promote unity and solidarity in the global South in their common struggle for a fairer world.

The new hope provided by the Brics bloc of nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, supplemented recently with Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and, from last week Indonesia — can also trace their lineage to the spirit of Bandung.

But Brics must learn the lessons of Bandung on how best to handle the backlash from the Western nations that have ruled the roost for centuries.

Key to this will be winning back the right to trade with whatever country Brics nations wish to trade with without fear of retribution from the US because that nation may have been on the White House naughty list.

China is the great trade success story of the last 20 years thanks to its willingness to engage in win-win relations in the international arena.

This principle is at the heart of Brics and clearly harks back to the spirit of Bandung.

It may be that a new currency will eventually come about to replace the dollar as the reserve currency. But the development of arrangements for countries of the global South to trade in their own sovereign currencies and not be beholden to the almighty US dollar seems to me to be particularly significant.

Similarly, anything that can break the over-reliance of the global South on debt and so-called international aid can only help to generate genuine independence and the sort of freedom that was obviously desired at the historic Bandung gathering.

The spirit of Bandung is alive and well, but must be ready to face the new challenges of the remainder of the 21st century.