Israel is the only Middle Eastern state which will not be invited to the conference of Asian and African nations to be held in Bandung, Indonesia, next April, according to the decision reached yesterday by the Prime Ministers of the Colombo powers at their meeting in Jakarta.
The five powers are India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Indonesia and Burma. They decided to invite 30 nations, comprising more than half the world’s population, to the conference to promote good will, consider mutual problems and review the position of the Asian and African peoples in the world today.
According to information received here, the decision not to invite Israel came at the end of a long and acrimonious debate in which Prime Minister U Nu of Burma insisted strongly on a bid to Israel, against the opposition of Prime Minister Mohammed Ali of Pakistan and Prime Minister Dr. Sastroamidjojo of Indonesia.
The issue was settled when the Pakistan representative reported that none of the Arab States would attend the conference if Israel were seated and a primary objective of the conference- “extending the area of peace”-would thus be defeated. In the face of this, U Nu had to yield.
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