JakartaPost/Reuters-July 8, 2025
During his debut at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, President Prabowo Subianto called on member nations to revive the Bandung Spirit and show united leadership in the face of escalating global tensions and the United States’ tariff policy. An official statement on Monday reaffirmed Jakarta’s “full support” for BRICS’ economic cooperation vision, noting that Indonesia’s recent entry into the group aims to “strengthen” its global standing while promoting stability and shared prosperity. Prabowo arrived in Brazil over the weekend after a stop in Jeddah, where he held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on recent developments in the Middle East. He received a warm welcome from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who mentioned him by name in his opening remarks and described BRICS as a modern embodiment of the Bandung Spirit. Lula drew parallels between the current geopolitical climate and the Cold War era, invoking the legacy of the 1955 Bandung Conference, where newly independent nations gathered in Indonesia to reject bloc politics and assert a non-aligned stance in a polarized world. The Bandung Spirit, first articulated during the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in West Java, was the first major political expression of unity among formerly colonized nations. It emphasized principles such as self-determination, non-intervention and equality in global relations, advocating independence from great power domination. “As its newest member, of course Indonesia has to make an appearance, to showcase its seriousness as a member,” Ahmad Rizky M. Umar, an international relations analyst at the Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom, told The Jakarta Post. “Its statements about South cooperation are still heavily rhetorical, and it remains unclear what Indonesia’s exact strategy is in navigating the challenges of today’s multipolarity,” he continued. Read more at:
