ABSTRACT
Do the ten guiding principles adopted at the Bandung Summit have relevance today? This article argues that they are, perhaps, more relevant today than ever before. Seventy years ago, the leaders of Asia and Africa saw fit to convene the first Asia-Africa Summit in March 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia. They had a collective vision to work together as countries of the Global South, most of whom had just gained independence as sovereign, independent States leaving behind the devastation wrought upon their countries by colonialism. The world of 1955 is vastly different from that of 2025, yet the pressing challenges confronting countries of the Global South remain the same, i.e. poverty, under-development, rising inequality, the erosion of the rules-based global order and multilateralism, and the search for solutions to the devastating caused by climate change, amongst others.
KEYWORDS
Bandung Conference, African National Congress, Moses Kotane, Maulvi Chachalia, Global South, Non-Aligned Movement
The year 2025 marked the 70th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa Summit that took place in Bandung, Indonesia from April 18-24, 1955. Twenty-nine newly independent Asian and African countries met in what was a historical gathering of the leaders of the developing South, recently freed from the devastation brought upon their countries by the ravages of colonial rule. Bandung was to set in motion a new wave of South-South cooperation and solidarity, and served as the precursor of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The conveners of the conference were all driven by the common goal of seeking to chart a new course of sovereign, independent, and collective action in addressing the most pressing challenges as newly independent, developing nations dissatisfied at being at the margins of the global stage.
The hegemonic actions taken by the former colonial overlords and other Western powers in their interaction with countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America served as a key factor in bringing together the leaders of the newly independent States. For South Africa, the Bandung Conference was a critical platform to bring global attention to the oppressive apartheid regime that governed the country through White minority rule. The African National Congress (ANC), the foremost liberation organization championing the freedom of the country both at home and abroad, sent two delegates to the conference, Moses Kotane and Maulvi Chachalia, to lobby support internationally for South Africa’s freedom struggle. The core principles that served as a catalyst in bringing together Asian and African leaders are as relevant today as they were in 1955. These core principles encompassed political independence, mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, and non-interference in internal affairs.
1. The Ten Principles of Bandung
It is pertinent in the current fractured geopolitical global environment to recall the ten principles adopted at the Summit:[1]
All ten of the above principles echoed the common resolve of the leaders to work in cooperation and partnership in upholding and defending a rules-based global order underpinned by the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.
2. Challenges to Multilateralism
The rules-based multilateral system is under siege. There is a major trust deficit especially among the major powers of the world today, contributing to the highly polarized world we live in. Might is right is the ruling mantra of the day. The paralysis of the international system of global governance, and the rise of unilateralism is an existential threat to both planet and people. The world is fragmenting into opposing camps at a time when we need collective action to address the most pressing challenges facing humanity, such as climate change, deepening levels of poverty and inequality, protracted conflicts, and trade wars.[2]
Unfortunately, the very architects of the United Nations system are at the forefront in dismantling the multilateral order and rendering it irrelevant. The UN in its current form is no longer fit for purpose, some eighty years since its founding. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres has repeatedly stressed the need for modernizing the multilateral system to address contemporary issues. He points out that while the world has evolved, international institutions have not kept pace, potentially making them part of the problem rather than the solution. Gutteres has framed the need for reform as a choice between adapting to the changing world or making the UN irrelevant.[3] Repeated calls and numerous resolutions aimed at reforming the UN and its institutions have yielded no results to date. Is a defunct, outdated system still relevant in its current form?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking on American computer scientist Lex Fridman’s podcast, recently noted that “the international organizations that were created have become almost irrelevant, there is no reform in them. Institutions like the UN cannot play their role. People in the world who do not care about laws and rules are doing everything, no one is able to stop them.”[4]
This paralysis of the international organizations is most evident in the United Nations Security Council. In December 1992, the General Assembly created an open-ended working group to review equitable representation on the UNSC. More than three decades later, despite regular meetings there are still no tangible results. In October 2008, the UN formally launched intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation and increasing the membership of the Council. After over fifteen years of protracted and fruitless discussions, no progress has been made thus far, nor is there any serious desire by the Permanent Five members of the UNSC to give up their privileged position on the veto.[5]
Despite most of the countries of the Global South not being present at the formation of the UN in June 1945, the leaders of the Bandung Summit recognized the centrality of the purpose and the principles of the UN Charter, and reiterated their commitment to multilateralism and a rules-based global order.
3. BRICS and the Global South
The Asia-Africa Summit gave birth to a new paradigm of South-South Cooperation and demonstrated the need for the Global South to work together in championing their collective aspirations on the world stage. Despite Bandung and the subsequent founding of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961 and the Group of 77 (G77) in 1964, the Global South continued to be on the margins of geopolitics and geoeconomics, post the formation of the UN. The economic rise on the world stage of Global South countries—China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and South Africa, among others—over the past two decades has witnessed a tectonic shift within the global geopolitical and economic landscape. South-South Cooperation has risen to the fore as most evident in the formation of BRICS where countries of the Global South are increasingly cooperating to challenge the posture and economic dominance of the North in order to rebalance global power dynamics. The emergence of BRICS since its inaugural summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009 was to have a profound impact on the geopolitical landscape. Since its inception in 1975, the G7 representing the most powerful economics of the world at that time, dominated global agenda-setting. The countries of the Global South lacked a platform similar to the G7, and the influence it exercised on global issues. BRICS has been viewed by many as an influential power bloc of the Global South and a counterweight to the G7. The recent expansion of BRICS during the 15th Summit in Johannesburg in August 2023 saw five new members admitted. The 17th summit in Rio De Janeiro in July 2025 further admitted ten countries as BRICS partner States. The BRICS + today represents nearly 48 percent of the global population. However, its GDP, in terms of purchasing power parity, is lower than that of the G7, which in 2024 accounted for almost 30 percent of global GDP as against the 35 percent of the BRICS+.[6]
The increasing economic influence of the BRICS+ countries has positioned the group as a major force in determining the shape of the emerging multipolar world order. The leaders of the BRICS+ at the recent Rio Summit once again reiterated their commitment to strengthening multilateralism, and reforming the global governance architecture to make it more just, inclusive, equitable, and representative of the current global reality, and to shift the Global South to the center of determining the new emerging world order underpinned by international law, the UN charter, and the drive to advance sustainable development, and promote peace and security.
4. Conclusion
The challenge to global trade posed by the imposition of unilateral tariffs by the Trump Administration not only threatens the future of the multilateral trading system but also destabilizes international cooperation in jointly addressing the manifold geopolitical, economic, security, developmental, and environmental challenges facing humanity. In the current fractured and polarized world, the Global South has to proactively demonstrate leadership in forging new partnerships and alliances both among themselves as well as likeminded Global North countries committed to addressing common challenges and shared interests. The Global South must be at the forefront in shaping the evolving multipolar world focused on a fair, inclusive, and equitable global community. The architects of Bandung will expect nothing less of us.
A. Sooklal is currently South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Bangladesh and Nepal. He previously served as Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg. He also served as South Africa G20 Sherpa, BRICS Sherpa, IBSA Sherpa, and Focal Point of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). He also served as Deputy Director General of Asia and Middle East in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). He holds a PhD in Oriental Studies and a PhD in Religious Studies, and prior to joining the South Africa Foreign Service he lectured at the University of South Africa and University of KwaZulu Natal.
[1] “Non-Aligned Movement and Bandung Principles as Relevant Today as Ever,” South Centre May 1, 2017, Geneva, https://www.southcentre.int/question/non-aligned-movement-and-bandung-principles-as-relevant-today-as-ever-south-centre/
[2] “The Failure of the Current Multilateral System,” Friends of the Earth International, September 16, 2024, Amsterdam, https://www.foei.org/the-failure-of-the-current-multilateral-system/
[3] “’Reform or Rupture’ Says Gutteres, Calling for Multilateralism to be Remade for the 21st Century,” UN News, September 19, 2023, https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1140947
[4] “PM Interacts with Lex Fridman in a Podcast,” March 16, 2025, PM India, New Delhi, https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/pm-interacts-with-lex-fridman-in-a-podcast/
[5] “Reform of the Security Council: Inter governmental negotiations,” United Nations, November 21, 2024, New York, https://www.un.org/en/ga/screform/
[6] “Rio de Janeiro Declaration: Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance,” Ministry of External Affairs, India, July 6, 2025, https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl%2F39770%2F
