New Delhi, May 23 -- To historians of Southeast Asia, the Bandung conference of 1955 presents itself as one of the most striking international initiatives undertaken by newly-independent Indonesia. For historians of Indonesia, it marks the emphasis on foreign as against domestic policy that was associated with Sukarno's growing dominance. To biographers of Sukarno, it appears to be both a strategic device in domestic politics and a far-sighted perception of a shift in international relations.

Internationally, it was both to demonstrate the influence of India and to show its limits. Even more it was to mark some kind of success for the People's Republic of China and for its premier Chou En-Lai in developing the foreign policy line associa...