In April 1955, at a closed session of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru spoke forcefully about the need for countries in Asia and Africa to refuse to join either of the two great powers - the United States and the Soviet Union - and to remain unaligned. Arguing that alignment with either power during the Cold War would degrade or humiliate those countries that had 'come out of bondage into freedom', Nehru maintained that the moral force of postcolonial nations should serve as a counter to the military force of the great powers.
We must take a complete view of the situation and not be contradictory ourselves when we talk about colonialism, when we say 'colonialism must go', and in the same voice say that we support every policy or some policies that confirm colonialism. It is an extraordinary attitude to take up.
Having lifted the yoke of British colonialism, India presented itself as poised to take on the moral and political leadership of the decolonising world. This was perhaps to be expected, especially given that India was the largest and most populous country to become independent from European colonial rule.
Nehru, too, was perceived as a charismatic and well-read leader who spoke for the people of Asia and Africa, and attempted to find what the scholar Ian Hall has called a 'different way to channel' the aspirations of postcolonial nations.
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