Question

Explain the role played by India under Jawaharlal Nehru in maintaining Afro-Asian unity.

Answer 1

1. Due to India’s size, location and power potential, Nehru dreamt of a major role for India in world affairs, especially in Asia.
2. Under Nehru’s leadership, India made contact with other newly emerged independent nations of Asia and Africa. 
3. During the 1940s and 1950s, Nehru advocated with great enthusiasm to support the Asian unit. Under his leadership, India hosted the Asian Relations Conference in March 1947, five months before India’s independence.
4. India even made efforts to support the liberation movement of Indonesia to free it from the clutches of Dutch colonial rule by convening an international conference in 1949. 
5. The Afro-Asian meeting held in the Indonesian city of Bandung in 1955, commonly known as the Bandung Conference, was a watershed in India’s engagement with the newly liberated nations of Asia and Africa.