The Spirit of Bandung: O.R. Tambo’s Reflections on the Bandung Conference
Extracts from the Speech of the then African National Congress (ANC) President O.R. Tambo on the Bandung Conference, which was a meeting of Asian and African states, which took place on 18–24 April 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia. The speech was presented at the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) International Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, on 10 – 13 April 1979, focusing on solidarity with the liberation movements in Southern Africa and the Frontline States.
Introduction
The twenty-nine countries that participated in the Bandung Conference represented a total population of 1.5 billion people, 54% of the world’s population. The conference was organised by Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Pakistan. It was coordinated by Ruslan Abdulgani, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
The aims of the conference were stated to promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation as well as to oppose colonialism or neocolonialism by any nation. The core principles of the Bandung Conference were political self-determination, mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, and equality. These issues were of central importance to all participants in the conference, most of which had recently emerged from colonial rule.
At the close of the Bandung Conference attendees signed
