RI must play active role in int'l politics: Seminar
RI must play active role in int'l politics: Seminar
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, must regain its
position as a key player in international politics, and the
hosting of Asian-African Summit (AAS) next month is the right
move in the right direction, several participants of a seminar
said in Jakarta.
Indonesia will host the AAS on April 22 and April 23 in
Jakarta. Golden jubilee celebrations will be held in Bandung on
April 24.
Windy, a 19-year-old student at the private National
University (UNAS) in Jakarta, commended the government's plan to
host AAS to forge a new partnership between Asian and African
countries.
She said the hosting of the summit was a significant move by
the government to regain its leading role in the international
arena.
"This will be a big achievement for us as we can invite
leaders of Asian and African countries to sit together at the
summit here in Indonesia," Windy, who studies international
relations at the university, told The Jakarta Post on the
sidelines of a seminar on the Asian-African Summit at her campus.
The seminar was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the university.
"I hope after the summit, countries of the two regions can
improve their cooperation in facing the more complicated problems
in the coming years," she said.
Student Frisca Simanjuntak also welcomed the summit and urged
leaders of the two regions to work together to face the
challenges emerging from globalization.
"Today's condition is totally different compared to 50 years
ago when the first summit took place, that's why the upcoming
result must be concrete," she said.
Mangasi Sihombing -- the foreign ministry's director general
for information, public diplomacy and international treaties --
said there was a need to expand cooperation between Asian and
African continents to face new challenges.
"Asian and African countries are facing similar problems.
Indonesia realizes the need to expand cooperation between the two
continents. We decided to utilize the moment of the golden
jubilee of the 1955 Bandung Conference to forge a new partnership
between Asian and African countries," Sihombing said at the
seminar in his keynote speech that the conference, which aims to
revitalize the spirit of the 1955 Bandung conference and to forge
a new strategic partnership between Asian and African countries.
Fifty years ago, Indonesia hosted the first conference of
Asian and African leaders in Bandung to boost South-South
cooperation and help the struggle against colonialism.
"Even after 50 years, the 1955 Asian-African Summit is still
relevant. It will remain relevant in the future. The 10
principles (Dasa Sila) of the Bandung conference can be used in
the present context. That's why we are organizing this summit,"
Sihombing, a veteran diplomat, said.
Roeslan Abdulgani, 90, the former secretary-general of the
Bandung Conference's organizing committee, said the conference
was the concept of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, and one
of the main aims of the conference was to fight against
colonialism.
"Many people in the Cabinet were skeptical about whether
Indonesia could host such a conference. Under the able leadership
of Sukarno, Indonesia did it," Roeslan, 90, said.
Alfan Alfian -- another speaker at the seminar and a lecturer
at UNAS -- said the values contained in the Bandung communique
were still relevant for actualization amid changing international
circumstances.
"Having solidarity is not enough. But the Asian and African
nations need to formulate and identify their common problems and
draw up a concrete program of action in solving these problems,"
Alfan said.