Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has confirmed his participation at the 60th Anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) and 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) in Jakarta, Bandung (West Java), on April 22-24.

The confirmation was received by Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister A.M. Fachir during a courtesy visit to the Sri Lankan President in Colombo, on March 16, the Indonesian foreign ministry noted in a statement, Thursday.

Fachir was in Colombo as a special envoy of the Indonesian president to deliver the invitation to the Sri Lankan president for the AAC anniversary activities.

The deputy minister had earlier visited India, Pakistan, and Myanmar to present similar invitations to those countries leaders.

President Sirisena’s presence at the AAC is important as his country is one of the first initiators of AAC.

The visit to Indonesia will be his first since Sirisena was installed as the Sri Lankan president in January this year.

Fachir also informed the Sri Lankan government that the Asian-African Business Summit (AABS) will be one of the activities to be held during the AAC.

President Sirisena emphasized that he would encourage the Sri Lankan Chamber of Commerce and businessmen, who have established business ties with Indonesia, to participate in the AABS.

During the visit to Colombo, Fachir also met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Pinsiri Samarawera to discuss bilateral issues in various fields.

They agreed that the new governments of Indonesia and Sri Lanka are taking positive steps to strengthen bilateral relations.

The AAC was first organized in Bandung, West Java, on April 18-24, 1955, at the initiative of Indonesia, Myanmar (Burma), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, and Pakistan.

Some 29 countries representing more than half of the world’s population sent their delegates to the conference.

The Bandung Conference is remembered in Sri Lanka for the controversial remark against communism by the then PM of Ceylon Sir John Kotelawala.

India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesia’s first President Sukarno, Burma’s first PM U Nu and the then Premier of the People’s Republic of China Zhou En-lai were among those who took part in the 1955 Conference.

In 2005, a summit was held in Bandung and Jakarta to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bandung Conference of 1955.

It was viewed as a symbol of freeing countries from colonialism, besides being a symbol of resurgence of Asian and African nations.
(With inputs from ANTARA News)