BANDUNG, Indonesia, April 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Leaders of 43 Asian and African countries began the commemoration of the golden jubilee of the Bandung Conference with historic walks from Savoy Homann Hotel to Merdeka Building here on Sunday.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao was among the leaders present.

Leaders of 43 Asian and African countries began the commemoration of the golden jubilee of the Bandung Conference with historic walks from Savoy Homann Hotel to Merdeka Building here on Sunday. (Xinhua)

    Bandung, the city of flower, is Indonesia's fourth largest city, with pleasant climate and lush surroundings.

    In 1955, 29 Asian-African countries gathered here to discuss independence, peace and economic prosperity.

    At dawn of Monday, April 18, 1955, around at 8:00 a.m., the delegates began to emerge from Homann and Preanger Hotels. In groups, they walked to the Merdeka Building for the opening rites, which has been known as "The Bandung Walks."

    The Bandung Conference adopted a final communique containing ten principles, which were the basic principles for promoting global peace and cooperation.

    Asian-African leaders of new generation Sunday visited the place to commemorate the golden jubilee of the conference.

    The leaders walked in several rows to the Merdeka Building and took part in a brief rite. They were greeted by young Indonesians in national costumes lining both sides of the street and singing and dancing.

    Security was tight with police and military officers blocking the way heading to the historic Merdeka Building in the West Java capital, some 150 km south of Jakarta.

    The commemoration was held after a two-day summit in Jakarta that adopted the joint declaration on the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership and leaders' statement on tsunami, earthquake and other natural disasters.

Sitting on the wheelchair, Indonesian veteran diplomat Roeslan Abdulgani, the secretary general of the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, attends the golden jubilee commemoration of the Asian African Conference 1955 in Bandung April 24. (Xinhua)

    After the leaders arrived at the Merdeka Building, they posed for a group photo.

    The rite began with university students singing "Halo-Halo Bandung."

    Welcoming speeches were given by leaders from Indonesia, the host; Nigeria, representing African countries; India, representing Asian countries; and Trinidad and Tobago, representing non-Asian-African countries.

    Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, "Fifty years ago, within this walls, the first generation of leaders of the two great continents came together and held the first Asian-African Conference."

    "We come here today to remember and to honor, but we also come to reaffirm and rejuvenate," he said.

    "One day, all of us who are gathered here will be judged by history. The judgment will not be based on what we say here, nor on what we said in the summit we just held," he said.

    "History will judge us on the basis of what we do in the days, months and years ahead -- whether we are true to the Bandung Spirit, or we fail it through failure of political nerve," Susilo added.

    "We will be judged on how dedicated we are to our Strategic Partnership, on whether we can make it work to ensure a better life for our children's children.

    "Let us therefore work together, so that we will deserve the kindness of history," He stressed.

    After the speeches, Susilo and South African President Thabo Mbeki formally signed the Declaration on the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership.

    The ceremony ended with Indonesian university students singing the song "South of Bandung at Night" in praise of the heroic spirit of local people. Enditem