---
category: Diplomacy
end: 1955-04-24
location: Bandung, Indonesia
start: 1955-04-18
summary: 1955 meeting of Asian and African states in Indonesia that established the
  Non-Aligned Movement, attended by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and shaping Cold War
  diplomacy.
tags:
- Event
- Diplomacy
---

The Bandung Conference was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, held in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955. Egyptian leader [Gamal Abdel Nasser](/people/gamal-abdel-nasser/) attended this conference and received a promise from [Chou En-lai](/people/chou-en-lai/), the Chinese premier, for as many arms as [Egypt](/places/egypt/) could afford. This marked a significant step in Nasser's efforts to secure military aid from the Communist world.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2.