{"id":11468,"date":"2026-07-15T11:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/?p=11468"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:51:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:51:05","slug":"international-peoples-assembly-to-convene-hands-off-asia-conference-in-colombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/2026\/07\/15\/international-peoples-assembly-to-convene-hands-off-asia-conference-in-colombo\/","title":{"rendered":"International Peoples’ Assembly to Convene Hands Off Asia Conference in Colombo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The gathering will bring together movement leaders, scholars, journalists, diplomats, trade unionists, and representatives of progressive political parties and people\u2019s organizations to build a common agenda for sovereignty and solidarity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombo, Sri Lanka | 15 July 2026<\/strong> \u2013 The International Peoples’ Assembly, with support from Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, will convene Hands Off Asia: A People\u2019s Call for Sovereignty and Solidarity<\/strong> in Colombo from 16 to 18 July 2026<\/strong>, bringing together social movements, progressive political parties, trade unions, people\u2019s organizations, scholars, journalists, and diplomats from across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key speakers include Sri Lanka\u2019s Minister of Environment Hon.<\/strong> Dammika Patabendi<\/strong>, former Prime Minister of Nepal Hon.<\/strong> Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda)<\/strong>, Ambassador of Cuba to Sri Lanka H.E.<\/strong> Patricia L\u00e1zara Pego Guerra<\/strong>, and Executive Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research Vijay Prashad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference comes at a moment of escalating military confrontation, economic coercion, and political destabilization across Asia. The conference frames these crises as part of an interconnected system of imperial control that uses military, economic, political, and ideological tools at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Hands Off Asia\u2019 will create a space for movements and organizations to examine these pressures together rather than as separate national crises. Participants will discuss how the military, economic, political, and ideological dimensions of imperialism operate as a single system, and how peoples\u2019 movements can build a shared program of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asia is now central to the world economy. Home to roughly 60% of the world\u2019s population, the region has become a major engine of global production, manufacturing, and growth. Yet this economic weight has not freed many countries from debt distress, dependence on the dollar, International Monetary Fund programs, or the absence of regional alternatives to the Bretton Woods institutions. The conference will place these contradictions at the center of its discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference will open with the plenary, Sovereign Paths and Socialist Horizons: Building a Unified Front for a Sovereign Asia <\/strong>and close with another plenary session. \u2018Hands Off Asia\u2019 foregrounds eight thematic axes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The Militarization of Asia and the Architecture of Confrontation<\/strong>, including US military bases, arms transfers, military pacts, and regional flashpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Regime Change, Political Destabilization, and Imperial Interference<\/strong>, with attention to efforts to fragment progressive and left political movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Debt, Tariffs, and the New Economic Siege<\/strong>, including IMF and World Bank conditionalities, debt dependency, tariff pressure, and technology blockades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The Far Right, Authoritarianism, and the Domestic Infrastructure of Empire<\/strong>, examining how reactionary forces align domestic politics with imperial strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Palestine, West Asia, and Asian Solidarity Against Genocide<\/strong>, linking the struggle against genocide and war in West Asia to the wider attack on Asian sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Defending Sovereignty and Advancing Multilateralism in an Age of Crisis<\/strong>, focused on regional sovereignty and multilateralism amid brutal sanctions, war, and debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Building People\u2019s Culture and Communications in the Battle of Ideas<\/strong>, focused on the role of culture and communications in anti-imperialist struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. People\u2019s Alternatives, Resistance, and Socialist Horizons<\/strong>, focused on working towards a conference declaration and a shared program of demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference aims to deepen political understanding across the region, build lasting relationships among movements and organizations, and develop a shared program of demands. These include the closure of foreign military bases, cancellation of unjust debt, rejection of IMF conditions, the right to independent industrial and trade policies, an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine, an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to the war on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The peoples of Asia have a long history of resisting imperial domination, from anti-colonial struggles and national liberation movements to contemporary campaigns against military bases, sanctions, debt, and war. \u2018Hands Off Asia\u2019 seeks to bring these histories and present struggles into a common political framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this conference, the International People\u2019s Assembly, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, and participating organizations will call for a new stage of united anti-imperialist work across the continent. The future of Asia must be decided by its peoples. Hands Off Asia!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Contact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atul Chandra<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tings Chak<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shiran Illanperuma<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

shiran@thetricontinental.org<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

+94712067524<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The gathering will bring together movement leaders, scholars, journalists, diplomats, trade unionists, and representatives of progressive political parties and people\u2019s organizations to build a common agenda for sovereignty and solidarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-11468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-anti-imperialism"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11468"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11473,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468\/revisions\/11473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipa-aip.org\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}