Having reenacted the historic walk of Asian and African leaders in Bandung, West Java, 60 years ago, today'€™s national leaders are expected to adopt the historic spirit of their predecessors and translate the 1955 Bandung Spirit into greater freedom and a more peaceful world order.

Banners were taken down and traffic restrictions were lifted both in Jakarta and Bandung late on Friday afternoon. Authorities and related officials breathed a sigh of relief that the series of events in the six-day commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the historic Asian-African Conference had passed off with barely a hitch.

But having made their commitments the onus is now on the leaders to follow up and transform resolutions into a more concrete partnership.

'€œLet us revive the Bandung Spirit. Let us continue the struggle of our leaders from 60 years ago,'€ President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo said in his remarks at the Merdeka Building, the venue of the 1955 Conference.

'€œI hope the spirit of the Asian-African Conference will continue to be promoted by us together, in our respective countries,'€ he added.

In a repeat of what was done during the conference'€™s 50th anniversary in 2005, dozens of heads of Asian and African states and governments recreated the historic Bandung Walk, retracing the steps of 1955'€™s Asian and African leaders on the 100-meter walk from the Savoy Homann Hotel to the Merdeka Building.

Jokowi walked in the front row, with Chinese President Xi Jinping on his right and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to his left. All three were accompanied by their spouses.

Also in the front row were Vice President Jusuf Kalla and his wife, Mufidah Jusuf Kalla, as well as former president Megawati Soe-
karnoputri, who is also the daughter of the initiator of the 1955 conference, former president Sukarno.

Megawati was seen smiling and talking with China'€™s First Lady Peng Liyuan.

They each wore their national attires, in diverse patterns and colors, and were warmly greeted with applause and cheering from crowds along Jl. Asia Afrika. A parade of marching bands played traditional Sundanese songs, while traditional dancers also performed on the street.

Once inside the Merdeka Building, leaders and delegates recalled the journeys taken by Asian and African countries over the last 60 years.

'€œOur leaders, with extraordinary strategic vision courageously created this historic decision to formulate the principles of Bandung and the 10-point declaration that was adopted unanimously at the 1955 conference,'€ Myanmarese President U Thein Sein recalled.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who delivered a speech in his capacity as the chairman of the African Union, also echoed Jokowi'€™s statement. '€œThe time has come for us to revive the spirit of Bandung, to revive the South,'€ he said.

The 91-year-old Mugabe, as well as the chairman of North Korea'€™s Presidium of the Supreme People'€™s Assembly Kim Yong-nam, 87, who sat next to him, did not participate in the Bandung Walk.

During the ceremony, one of the three outcome documents, the Bandung Message, was signed, by Jokowi as the host, as well as Swaziland'€™s King Mswati III representing Africa and China'€™s Xi representing Asia.

Xi reportedly left Bandung before lunch.

The organizers distributed packages of souvenirs containing several Indonesian traditional items including gemstones from Garut, West Java, during the lunch.

Jokowi mingled with local residents, distributing free books to children living in the Pakuan building where the lunch was held.

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