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.