“My presence today is not only as a leader of Indonesia, but as a fellow leader of the Global South, which represents 85% of the world’s population, who wants a win-win formula,” President Joko Widodo stated in his address to the BRICS-Plus Dialogue on Aug. 24. Speaking in his capacity as the current chair of ASEAN, the Indonesian President situated the mission of the BRICS as a continuation of the anti-colonial movement launched out of the historic 1955 conference in Bandung, Indonesia: “My presence here is also based on the desire to continue to revive the ‘Bandung spirit’ which is still very relevant today, where solidarity, solidity and cooperation between developing countries need to be strengthened.”
President Jokowi (as he is commonly called) worries that the current world situation of war and conflict “threatens human life,” the Presidential Office reported. He is then quoted: “War and conflict have caused a human tragedy, the food crisis has resulted in tens of millions of people falling into poverty…. The threat of climate change … stalks humanity” also.
