'Archives of Asia Africa conference' nominated for Unesco project

The National Archives of India has signed a "letter of intent" with National Archives of Indonesia (ANRI) to jointly nominate the Archives of the 1955 Asia Africa Conference (ACC) for incorporation in Unesco's's Memory of the World (MoW) Register, a statement said Monday.

The ACC was held in Bandung - capital of west Java province in Indonesia - in 1955. It was a unique event in the history of post-war diplomacy and international relations.

The letter was signed Feb 13 in the capital, a statement from the ministry of culture said.

"Its world significance was that the newly independent Asian and African countries found their voice for the first time in their post independent history. Their initiative, started in Bandung with the four initial sponsoring countries (Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Burma), gave birth six years (1961) later to the Non-Aligned Movement," said the statement.

MoW is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction.