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Bandung spirit renewal "sensible" in era of economic interdependence: expert

Xinhua, April 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The call by Chinese President Xi Jinping to carry forward the Bandung Spirit is a sensible move in a new era where greater economic interdependence between nations has become more prevalent, a London-based expert on international relations has said.

Harsh Pant, professor of international relations in the defense studies department at King's College in London, said the relationship between Asia and Africa could further benefit from the Bandung Spirit, which came out of the Bandung Conference in 1955 when newly-independent and non-aligned nations first gathered to assert principles of international economic and political engagement.

"The idea that two continents should be treating each other with mutual respect and looking at each other through the lens of the principles enunciated at Bandung obviously makes sense in an environment where greater economic interdependence is the norm." said Pant.

"Even compared to 1955, I think there is a greater requirement today for these two continents to look at each other through the prism of 1955 and the principles of the 1955 Bandung Conference. So I think from that perspective this call to go back to that spirit is a very good one," he added.

Xi Jinping made the call to carry forward the Bandung Spirit in his speech in Jakarta on the 60th anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference on Wednesday. Xi also called on Asian and African countries to beef up cooperation with developing countries in Latin America, the South Pacific and other regions.

"It is an interesting proposal. The South has always been more than Asia and Africa. To give a call to expand the Spirit of Bandung to other areas is, I think, a flexible dynamic that Asia and Africa perhaps need other relationships, which for all practical purposes they have been," Pant said.

Pant said this reflected a reality of global politics, in which Latin America and South Pacific nations had engaged on international issues such as economics and climate change to assert their primary interests.

"If the Chinese President is saying greater engagement with other areas should be the norm then, I think he is just reflecting the reality of global politics," commented Pant. Enditem