Held on the island of Java in Indonesia, in the presence of the leaders of 29 newly independent countries (23 from Asia and 6 from Africa) and several delegations, including the Algerian delegation led by members of the FLN Hocine Ait Ahmed and M' hamed Yazid, the Bandung Conference quickly set the course, placing the decolonization of peoples, non-alignment, non-interference, peaceful coexistence and economic development as the main axes of its action.
These ideals ardently carried and defended by the historical leaders of this era, including the Indonesian president, Sukarno, the Indian Prime Minister Nehru, the Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and the Egyptian Abdel Nasser, were quickly brought to fruition.
Indeed, no fewer than 31 African countries, which had been languishing under the colonial yoke for a long time, were able to gain independence in the space of a few years, while 12 other countries belonging to both continents were admitted to the United Nations. united as full members.
The Algerian question, widely discussed during the work of this meeting, also emerged victorious, to the extent that five months later, that is to say in September 1955, the latter was included for the first time in the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly. This achievement internationalized the national cause and expanded its defenders throughout the world.
For the mujahid and former diplomat, Noureddine Djoudi, the Bandung conference was a "major" event and a "decisive" turning point in relations between the Third World and the great powers, stressing that it allowed diplomacy to war initiated by the National Liberation Front (FLN) to find a first field of action to raise awareness among international public opinion of the national cause.
“The Bandung Conference was certainly a major event and a decisive turning point in relations between the Third World and the great powers, and in particular the colonialist and imperialist powers,” underlined Mr. Djoudi, in a statement to the APS , on the occasion of the commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the holding of this historic conference.
“For Algeria, it was of particular interest since it was convened in 1955, barely six months after the outbreak of the armed struggle on November 1, 1954,” he explained.
According to him, "the war diplomacy initiated by the FLN found there a first field of action to raise international public opinion to our cause, an extremely difficult armed struggle in an asymmetrical war facing a powerful colonial army supported by its allies of NATO.
In this context, the dean of Algerian diplomats recalled that the Algerian Revolution dispatched a large delegation led, among others, by Hocine Aït Ahmed, M'hamed Yazid and Mohamed Seddik Ben Yahia whose mission was to "convince the speakers to recognize the FLN as the only legitimate representative of the struggle of the Algerian people".
== Recognition of the FLN, first victory for young Algerian diplomacy ==
“The recognition of the FLN by the Bandung Conference was therefore the first major victory of the young Algerian diplomacy which announced others to come at the international level,” he underlined.
Furthermore, Mr. Djoudi noted that "the principles established by the Afro-Asian and European leaders in the person of the Yugoslav Tito, were in perfect harmony with the principles which were inscribed in the very nature of the Revolution of November 1, 1954 ".
“Our millennial heritage, as well as the principles set out directly or implicitly in the November 1st Appeal and the Soummam platform, clearly demonstrate that the Algerian Revolution was not limited to the liberation of the national territory colonized by force of arms. but carried within it a universal message of freedom, dignity and humanism,” he noted.
In this regard, he recalled that "in the midst of the war of liberation, from the years 1958/59, the National Liberation Army (ALN) was already helping to train fighters from sub-Saharan Africa still colonized or under apartheid regime", noting that the principles set out in the final declaration of the Bandung Conference could only welcome the "assent" of Algeria.
The fact remains, continues the former diplomat, that "the non-alignment recommended by the Conference has become and remains today for Algeria a constant and a credo fiercely defended by our foreign policy".
And added: "Our positions defended at the UN and the Security Council amply demonstrate this, particularly with regard to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian and Sahrawi peoples, and the construction of a more just, more humane and more balanced.
Mr. Djoudi also indicated that "the inclusion of the Algerian question on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly is the direct consequence of the principles set out in the declaration of the Bandung Conference, of its recognition of the FLN and the decisive action of the FLN representation in New York".
He notably recalled the "influence" that the late Si Abdelkader Chanderli had with the press and the powerful trade union center of the United States, and even with the young senator and future president John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
"The historic Bandoeng conference was closed on April 24, 1955. Five months later, on September 30, 1955, the Algerian question was included on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly, to the great dismay of French diplomacy and his so-called 'inner question'", he underlined.