The 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference is underway in Indonesia. What issues will the two continents be discussing? And moving forward, how will they strengthen their alliance?

The Asian-African conference was first held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. Twenty-nine governments including China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia took part. The conference addressed peace and security and offered a collective voice against colonialism. Their commitment to such inter-regional cooperation became known as the Bandung spirit.

This week, 34 Heads of State from the two continents are coming together, 60 years later, to strengthen Asia-Africa economic, cultural and political cooperation.
CCTV’s reporter Andy Saputra who in Jakarta provided an update from the conference.

To discuss the history and the relevance of the Asia-Africa conference, the Heat spoke to these experts:

• Liu Youfa from Beijing is the former vice president at the China Institute of International Studies.
• Jusuf Wanandi, a senior fellow and co-founder of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
• William Gumede, an associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
• Amitav Acharya, a Professor of International Relations at American University here in Washington and author of the book: The End of American World Order.

The Heat continued its discussion of the conference.