Friday, April 22 2005 10:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jakarta: The summit of Asian and African leaders, which will adopt a Strategic Partnership declaration aimed at strengthening cooperation among countries of the two continents, opened in Jakarta today (Apr 22, 2005).

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will represent India at the two-day summit, to be attended by almost 50 heads of State, which marks the Golden Jubilee of the 1955 Asian African Conference in Bandung.

India had played a key role under the leadership of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the meet 50 years ago, which gave birth to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave the inaugural speech urging countries from both the continents to forge strategic ties and strengthen economic cooperation.

With its theme of 'Reinvigorating the Bandung Spirit: Working towards a New Asian-African Strategic Partnership', the Summit is intended to bring Asia and Africa toward a better future based on their collective self-reliance and to ensure an enabling international environment for the benefit of peoples of the two continents.

The Summit will adopt the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) declaration, a broad visionary document outlining a programme for closer cooperation in political, economic and social and cultural relations.