Congress invokes Nehru's legacy as BRICS New Delhi Declaration references 1955 Bandung Conference

Jairam Ramesh pointed to Paragraph 16 of the declaration, which recalls the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung.

NEW DELHI: Congress on Saturday took a jab at the Centre by invoking the iconic Bollywood melody, “Tu jahan jahan chale ga, mera saaya saath hoga,” to highlight former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's diplomatic legacy and its presence in the newly adopted Brics New Delhi Declaration. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed to Paragraph 16 of the declaration, which recalls the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, and its principles of equality, independence, non-intervention and mutual benefit.

"Para 16 of the New Delhi Declaration just adopted at the Brics Summit says the following: 16. We recall 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia that proclaimed general principles, including equality, independence, non-intervention, and mutual benefit.”

"We stress that the Bandung Spirit serves as a reference in the pursuit of a fairer, more inclusive, and representative multilateral system," he added. Jairam said the reference to Bandung in the Brics declaration showed how Nehru's vision for the Global South continues to resonate in contemporary diplomacy.

"Here are some jottings by Jawaharlal Nehru on the afternoon of April 22, 1955, at that historic meeting. Vineet Thakur recently wrote a fine piece on these and other jottings, doodles and notes of Nehru at Bandung. Remember that old Bollywood hit song Tu jahan jahan chale ga, mera saaya saath hoga," said the Congress leader.

The Congress leader's reference to Bandung comes as Brics leaders push for reforms in global governance and greater representation for developing countries. Drawing on historian Vineet Thakur's analysis of Nehru's notes from the 1955 Bandung Conference, Jairam highlighted how the handwritten records captured the behind-the-scenes tensions and negotiations at the historic gathering. Nehru's notes included his observations on the length of speeches, including Carlos Romulo's 31.5-minute address, as well as his writings in Urdu, Hindi and English. The notes also recorded details that were not reflected in official accounts, including Ahmed al-Shukeiri's speech on Palestine, which helped place the issue within the emerging Global South agenda, ANI reported.

Nehru also used the same airline pad slips to draft a tribute to Albert Einstein. Einstein had written to Nehru shortly before his death, urging him to engage with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai at Bandung to help ease tensions between China and the US over nuclear weapons.

Earler in the day, the Brics countries adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026, supporting the aspirations of India and Brazil to play a greater role in the United Nations, including its Security Council. China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, reiterated their support for India's and Brazil's aspirations. Brics leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to reforming the Security Council to make it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, with greater representation for developing countries. The declaration strongly condemned the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and called for zero tolerance towards terrorism.

On trade, the bloc expressed serious concern over the growing use of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures, saying they distort trade, threaten global supply chains and create uncertainty for international economic activity. Brics also reaffirmed support for reform of the World Trade Organisation and called for an open, equitable, transparent, fair, inclusive and rules-based multilateral trading system. It called for the immediate restoration of a fully functioning two-tier binding WTO dispute settlement mechanism.

In April 1955, representatives of 29 Asian and African governments gathered in Bandung, Indonesia, to discuss peace, economic development, decolonisation and the role of the developing world during the Cold War. The conference's core principles included political self-determination, respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs and equality. The Brics New Delhi Declaration was adopted at the 18th Brics Summit, being hosted by India. India's chairship is guided by the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”