Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, co-chair of the summit, said it was a shared desire and common commitment to expand, deepen and solidify the new partnership between Africa and Asia.

"We need to put in much more effort into this new partnership, if we are to attain ambitions," Mugabe said while addressing the summit.

He said countries need to actually implement projects of cooperation in order to give full play to the vitality of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in his remarks, warned that foreign military interventions had worsened conditions in Syria and Yemen, urging the international community to coordinate in combating terrorism and extremism.

"Continued crises and conflicts which have been intensified with foreign military intervention have created humanitarian catastrophe in the crisis-hit areas. The present unfortunate conditions in Yemen and Syria are clear examples of this situation, " he said.

Series of bilateral meetings were held Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit, with leaders and officials holding discussions on implementation of the South-South cooperation.

The two-day summit is expected to adopt three documents - the Bandung Message, the Declaration of Re-invigorating New Asia- Africa Strategic Partnership and the Declaration on Palestine.

The leaders are scheduled to travel to Bandung city in West Java on Friday for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC).

This year's AAC events, running from April 19 to April 24, gathered leaders and delegates from some 100 Asian and African nations, 15 observer countries and 17 international organizations.