ifda dossier 74 - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

non-alignment, which can be added to the list of shared features.6 Non-
alignment, in the sense of formal non-adherence to either the Western
or the Communist bloc by way of a military pact, is no more than an
expression of independence, so newly acquired.7
Given the fact that there existed a basis for collaboration, it could be
expected that there has in fact been informal cooperation between the
new states in the UN from the very start.7 This grouping acquired a
more formal status after the new Delhi Conference of 1949. Nehru
convened this meeting of newly independent countries of Asia and two
African countries, Egypt and Ethiopia, making this the first Afro-Asian
gathering before the later and more well-known Bandung Afro-Asian
Conference of 1955. This second New Delhi Conference was to discuss
recent events in Indonesia where the colonial power, the Dutch, had just
incarcerated Indonesian nationalists. As the Dutch ignored a Security
Council ruling requiring the release of the nationalist leaders, it was felt
that the "the free countries of Asia" (Nehru's phrase 8) should seek
solutions to the Indonesian problem. The call for more permanent
arrangements for consultation arose at this conference so that, subse-
quently, the Afro-Asian states increased their efforts at consultation and
cooperation at the UN. By the end of 1950, the Afro-Asian Bloc had
become a reality.
While the Afro-Asian Bloc was able to act in concert on issues of
shared interest, the specific needs and preferences of member countries
diverged, with their foreign policies reflecting their particular Cold War
affiliations, especially in the atmosphere of intense rivalry of the 1950s.
The Bandung Conference of 1955 has often been touted as the high
point of Afro-Asian collaboration, despite the variety of positions which
surfaced in the course of the conference.5 It is the unity attained in the
final communique which gave rise to the myth of Bandung, i.e. an Afro-
Asian solidarity which is more apparent that real. As it was difficult to
expect to achieve unity from such a heterogenous gathering, the
tendency for smaller groupings to emerge resulted in a separate African
caucus in the UN in 1958 8 and regional organizations in the 1960s
such as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In fact, after Bandung, efforts to
convene a second Bandung came to nought. It should, however, be