Sri Lanka, June 15 -- If nations of the Global South rediscover the habit of solidarity, grounded not in nostalgia but in mutual self-interest, they can negotiate with creditors, investors and superpowers on more equal terms.

In 1955, leaders of the Global South gathered in Bandung, Indonesia, to carve a path that allowed them to navigate the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union without taking sides. It was at this summit that the voice of the newly decolonised world was heard first on the world stage. The summit also marked the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Seventy years later, the Global South, especially smaller nations such as Sri Lanka, are again being asked to pick between the United States and China ...