A/32/PV.18 General Assembly

This morning the General Assembly will hear a statement by the President of the United States of America. On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Jimmy Carter, the President of the United States of America, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

Mr. Presi- dent, I wish to offer you my congratulations on your election as President of the thirty-second session of the General Assembly. It gives my own Government particular satisfaction to work under the leadership of a representative of Yugoslavia, a nation with which the United States enjoys close and valued relations. We pledge our co-operation and we wiU depend heavily on your experience and skill in guiding these discussions which we are beginning. 3. I should like also to express again the high esteem in which we hold Secretary-General Waldheim. We continue to benefit greatly from our close consultations with him and we place great trust in his leadership of this Organization. 4. Thirty-two years ago, in the cold dawn of the atomic age, this Organization came into being. Its first and most urgent purpose has been to tecure peace for an exhausted 2Ild ravaged world. 5. Present conditions in some respects appear quite hope- ful, yet the assurance of peace continues to elude us. Before the end of this century a score of nations could possess nuclear weapons. If this should happen the world we leave our children will mock our own hopes for peace. 6. The level of nuclear armaments could grow by tens of thousands and the same situation could well C'ccur with advanced conventional weapons. The temptation to use those weapons, or fear that someone else might do it first, would be almost irresistible. The ever-growing trade in NEW YORK conventional arms subverts international commerce from a force for peace to a caterer for war. 7. Violence, terrorism, assassination and undeclared wars all threaten to destroy the restraint and the moderation that must become the dominant characteristic of our age. Unless we establish a code of international behaviour in which the resort to violence becomes increasingly irrelevant to the pursuit of nalional interests we will crush the world's dreams for human development and the full flowering of human freedom. 8. We have already become a global community, but only in the sense that we face common problems and share, for good or evil, a common future. In this community, the power to solve the world's problems~ particularly economic "and political power, no longer lies solely in the hands of a few nations. Power is now widely shared among many . nations with different cultures, different histories and different aspirations. The question is whether we will allow our differences to defeat us or whether we will work together to realize our common hopes for peace. 9. Today I want to address the major dimensions of peace and the role the United States intends to play in limiting and reducing all armaments, control!lng nuclear technology, restricting the arms trade and settling disputes by peaceful means. 10. When atomic weapons were used for the first time Winston Churchill described the power of the atom as "a revelation long mercifully withheld from man". Since then we have learned;in Durrenmatt's chilling words, that "what has once been thought can never be unthought". 11. If we are to have any assurance that our children will live out their lives in a world which satisfies our hope-or that they will have a chance to live at all-we must finally come to terms with this enormous nuclear force and turn it to exclusivel¥ beneficial ends. Peace will not be assured until the weapons of war are finally put away. While we work towards that goal nations will want sufficient arms to preserve their security. The United States purpose is to ensure peace. It is for that reason that our military posture and our alliances will remain as strong as necessary to deter attack. 12. However, the security of the global community cannot for ever rest on a balance of terror. In the past, war has been accepted as the ultimate arbiter of disputes among nations, but in the nuclear era Ne can no longer think of war as merely a continuation of diplomacy by other means. Nuclear war cannot be measured by the archaic standards of "victory" or "defeat". This stark reality imposes on the 14. We must look beyond the present, and work to prevent the critical threats and instabilities /Jf the future. If the principles of self· restraint, reciprocity and mututai accommodation of inteI~sts are observed, then the United States and the Soviet Union not only ",.:in succeed in limiting weapons but also will create :: foundation for b~tter relations in other sphere~of interest. 15. The United States is \AjIling to go as far as possible, consistent with our security intetests, in limiting ami reducing our nuclear weapons. On a reciprocal basis we are willing now to reduce them by 10 per cent, 20 per cent or even 50 per cent. Then we will work for further reductions with a view to a world truly free of nuclear weapons. 16. The United States also recognize~ the threat of continued testing of nuclear (;).".plosives. 17. Negotiations for a comprehensive ban on nuclear explosions are now being conducted by the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. As in other areas where vital natio_, tJ security interests are engaged, agreements must be veritiable and fair. They must be seen by all the parties as serving a longer-term interest that justifies the restraints of the moment. The longer-term interest in this instance is to close one more avenue of nuclear competition and thereby demonstrate to all the world that the major nuclear Powers take seriously our obligations to reduce the threat of nuclear catastrophe. 18. My country believes that the time has come to end all explosions of nuclear devices, no matter what their claimed justification-peaceful or military-and we appreciate the efforts of other nations to reach this same goal. 19. During the past nine months, I have expressed the special importance we attach to controlling nuclear pro- liferation; but I fear that many do not understand why the United States feels as it does. Why is it so imp'ortant to avoid the chance that one or two or 10 other nations might acquire one or two or 10 nuclear weapons of their own? Let me try to explain, for I deeply believe that this is one of the greatest challenges that we face in the next quarter of a century. 20. It is a truism that nuclear w\:,dpons are a powerful deterrent. They are a deterrent because they threaten. They could be used for terrorism or blackmail as well as for war. But they threaten not just the intended enemy; they threaten every nation-combatant and non-combatant alike. That is why all of us must be concerned. 21. Let me he frank. Tht~ existence of nuclear weapons in the United States and the Soviet Union, and in the United Kingdom, France and China, is something we cannot undo 22. I believe that the Lnndon suppliers group must conclude its work as it is presently constituted, so that world security will be safeguarded from the pressures of commerciai competition. We have learned that it is not enl)l~.gh to safeguard just some facilities or some materials. F,ull-scope, cOInprehensive safegu~nl:- 'ue neceS5.ary. 21. Two weeks fro..n now, in our own cOtm~ry, more than 30 ~ilpplier and comr~:ningnations will convenb in Washi11g~ tor~ for the Conference on Intematj(:\ll~JlNude;n Faet Cycle Evaluation which we prop')'~er- last spring. For th~ next several ye:us experts will work t\)gether on ev,-ry f1c~t of the nuclea: fuel cycle. The scie',ltists and the' policy-inakers of these n::ttions will [Hee a tremendous chaU~'1ge. We ~mow t.hat, by the year 2000, nt.;;;lear power reactors could be produc.ing enough plutonium to make tens Ivf thoJsands of bombs ev~ry ye1r. I believe, from my O'\',i1 Fersonal knowledge of this igsu~, that there ;\re ways to scive the prob~ems we face. ! beEeve that there are ahemative hlel cyd~s that can be managed safe!:,- un a globul basis. I hope, therefore, that the Cor.:ference on th~ l!lternational Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation will have the support and encourage- ment of every nat~Dn. 24. I have heard it said that efforts to control nuclear proliferation l::re ~:Iti1e; that tl' g:..e is already out of the bottle. I do not believe this \.0 be true. It should not be forgotten that for 25 years the nuclear club did not expand its membership., By genuine co-operation we can make certain that this terrible club expands no further. 25. I have talked about the special problems of nuclear arms contror and nuclear proliferation at length. Let me turn to the problem of conventional arms control, which affects potentially or directly every nation represented in this great hall. This is not a matter for the future-even the near future-but one for the immediate present. World-wide military expenditur~s are. now in the neighbourhood of $300 billion a year. Last year the nations of the world' spent more than 60 times as much equipping each sCildiiJr as we spent educating each child. The industrialized nations spend the most money, but the rate of growth in military spending is faster in .the developing world. While oniy a handful of states produce sophisticated weapons, the number of nations which seek to purchac:e these, weapons is increasing rapidly. 26. The conventional arms race both causes and feeds on the threat of larger and more deadly wars. It levies an enormous burden on an already troubled world economy. 23. We hope to work with other supplier nations to cut back nn the flow of arms and to reduce th~ rate at which the most advanced and sophisticated weapon technologies spre~d around the world. We do not expect this task to be easy or to produce instant results. But we are committed to stop the spiral of the increasing sale of weapons. 29. Eq:!!illy important t we hope that purchaser nations t individually and through r,~gional organizations, will limit their arms imports. ,:Ve are ready to provide to ~ome nations the ~lecessary means for legitimate self-defencet but \,e are also eager to work with any nation or region in o:cder to 1ecrease th~ need for more numerous, more r!eadly ~:!ld ever more expen$ive weapons. 30. Fourteen years ago, one of my pi?tiecessors spoke in this !ull 1 un ier circumstances that in certain ways resem- bled iheiS~. f t was a time, h~ said, of comparative calm and there wa5 arl atmcsphere of rising hope about the prospect of contml1;in.J nuclear energy. The first specific step had beel! taken to limit the nuclear arms race-a test-ban trcaty2 signed by nearly a hundred nations. 31. But the succeeding years 'did not live up to the optimistic prospect John F. Kennedy placed before this Assembly because, as a community of nations, we failed to address the deepest sources of potential conflict among us. 32. As we seek to establish the principles of detente among the major nuclear Powers, we believe that these principles must also apply in regiona' conflicts. The United States is committed to the peaceful settlement of dif- ferences. We are committed to the strengthening of the peace-making capabilities of the United Nations and re- gional organizations, such as the Organization of African Unity and the Organization of American States. 33. The United States supports the United Kingdom's efforts to bring about a peaceful, rapid transition to majority rule and independence in Zimb~bwe. We joined .other members of the Security Council last week and also the Secretary-General in efforts to bring about indepen- dence and democratic rule in Namibia. We are pleased with the level of co-operation we have achieved with the leaders of the nations in the area, as well as with those peoples who are struggling for independence. We urge South Africa and other nations to support the proposed solution to the problems in Zimbabwe, and to co-operate still more closely in providing for a smooth and prompt transition in Namibia. 1 See Offlewl Records of the General Assembly, Eighteenth Session, Plenary Meetings, 1209th t.l~eting, paras. 32-78. 2 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Watert signed in Moscow on 5 August 1963. 35. Of all the regional conflicts in the world, none holds more menace than the Middle East. War there has clready carried the world to the edge of nuclear confrontation. It has already cisrupte,d the world economy and imposed severe hardships on the people in the developed and the d~veloping nations alike. So true peace-peace embodied in binding treaties·-is essential. It will be in the intel'est of th~ Israelis and the Arabs. It is in the interest of the American peopk It is in the interest of the er.tire world. 36. The United Nations Security Council has provided the basis fOT peace in resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), but negotiations in good faith by all parties is needed to give substance to peace. 37. Such negotiations in good faith must be inspired by a recognition that all nations in the area-Israel and the Arab countries-have a right to exist in peace, with the early establishment of economic and cultural exchanges and of llomlal diplomatic relations. Peace must include a process in which the bitter divisions of generations, even centuries- hatreds and suspicions-can be overcome. Negotiations cannot be successful if any of the parties harbours the deceitful view that peace is simply an interlude in which to prepare for war. 38. Negotiations in good faith will also require acceptance by all sides of the funchmental rights and interest of everyone involved. 39. For Israel, this means borders that are recognized and secure. Security arrangements are crucial to a nation that has fought for its survival in each of the last four decades. The commitment of the United States to Israel's security is unquestionable. 40. For the Arabs, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people must be recognized. One of the things that binds the American people to Israel is our shared respect for human rights and the courage with which Israel has defended such rights. It is clear that a true and lasting peace in the Middle East must also respect the rights of all th\.1 peoples of the area. How these rights are to be dermed and implemented is, of course; for the interested parties to decide in detailed negotiations, and not for us to dictate. 41. We do not intend to lipose from the outside a settlement on the nations of the Middle East. 42. The United States has been meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Israel and the Arab nations involved in the search for peace. We are staying in close contact with the Soviet Union, with which we share responsibility for recovening the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East. As a result of these consultations, the Soviet Union and the United States have agreed to call for the resump- tion of the Geneva Conference before the end of this year. While a number of procedural questions remain, if the parties continue to act in good faith, I believe that these questions can be answered. . 44. The peaceful setttement of differences is, of course, essential. The United States is willing to abide by that principle, as in the case of the recently signed Panama Canal treaties. Once ratified, these treaties can transform the United States-Panama relationship into one that perma- nently protects the interests and respects the sovereignty of both our countries. 45. We have all survived and sllrmounted major challenges since the United Nations was founded, but we can accelerate progress even in a world of ever-increasing diversity. A commitment to strengthen international insti- tutions is vital, but progress lies also in our own national policies. We can work together to form a community of peace if we accept the kind of obligations that I have suggested today. 46. To summarize: first, there is an obligation to remove the threat of nuclear weaponry, to reverse the build-up of armaments and the trade in them, and to conclude bilateral and multilateral arms control agreements that can bring security to all of us. 47. In order to reduce the reliance of nations on nuclear weaponry, I hereby solemnly declare, on behalf pf the United States, that we will not use nuclear weapons except in self-defence; that is, in circumstances of an actual nuclear or conventional attack on the United States, our territories or armed forces, or such an attack on our allies. 48. In addition, we hope that initiatives by the Western nations to secure mutual and balanced force reductions in Europe will be met by equal response from the Warsaw Pact countries. 49. Secondly, an obligation to show restraint in areas of tension, to negotiate disputes and settle them peacefully, and to strengthen the peace-making capabilities of the United Nations and regional organizations. 50. And, finally, an effort by all nations, East as well as We:;t, North as wen as South, to fulfIl mankind's aspirations for human development and human freedom. It is to meet these basic demands that we build Governments and seek peace. SI. We must share these obligations for our own mutual survival and our own mutual prosperity. 52. We can see a world at peace. We can work for a world without want. We can build a global community dedicated to these purpose~ and to human dignity.

On behalfof the General Assembly, I wish to thank His Excellency the President of the United • States of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter, for the important statement he has just made.

Mr. President, it gives me pleasure to extend to you on behalf of the delegation of the Republic of Iraq our warm cong·atul...·:.n.n.. on you· "'l"'ct:on ..... D·"''':d'''.... ",r ~h'" I I al.lVI ., I \,I \,; I I a'l 1."'''1 \;.1'- VI UI" thility-second session of the General AssemlJly. What makes us all the more proud of your election is the continuing strengthening of the relations of friendship and amity existing between Yugoslavia and Iraq. I should like to commend in particular our close co-operation within the framework of the non-aligned movement, which Iraq considers to be the corner-stone of its foreign policy. 56. I avail myself of this opportunity to pay a tribute to the outstanding contribution made by Mr. Amerasinghe, the President of the thirty-first session, and to his wisdom in steering its deliberations. I should like also to express my appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, for his excellent efforts on behalf of this Organization. 57. During the past two years I have had the privilege from this rostrum of acquainting this esteemed Assembly with the basic principles oi the policy of the Republic of Iraq towards the Palestine question. I did this in the context of presenting my COUD.try's policy concerning many international issues. This time, however, I should like to confine myself to this central issue, which is of vital concern to us and which we sincer~ly believe should be the focus of attention of all of us if we really want to establish a lasting and just peace in the Arab region. 58. My country has continued to refuse to recognize the Zionist entity in a consistent policy based upon an objective assessment of how that entity came into being and of its long-term objectives. This policy is founded on our conviction that the emergence of that entity was based on a monstrous injustice and would not have come about had it not been for colonialist collusion between Great Britain and later the United States, on one hand, and world zionism, on the other. Zionism has acted in concert with the imperialists in Britain ever since the nineteenth century, with Palmerston, Shaftesbury and Disraeli, and later with Chamberlain, Herbert Samuel, Lloyd George and Balfour, the author of the well-known Declaration. 60. Thus, in his bid to enlist the support of Britain, Chairn Weizmann said, in 1904: "... should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settle- ment there, ... we could have in twenty to thirty years a million Jews out there, perhaps more; they would ... form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal."4 61. Thus Balfour issued his illegal and immoral Decla- ration on 2 November 1917, pledging his Government's position of viewing with favour the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, ig~:oring thereby the will of the Palestinian Arabs, who constituted 92 per cent of the population and possessed 98 per cent of the land. The Balfour Declarations was the culmination of Herzl's plans expounded at tho First Zionist Conference in Basel in 1897 and the efforts of Weizmann, who linked the Zionist programme with the British colonial interests. 62. The Palestinian people rejected the Declaration from the outset, as confirmed by the findings of the King-Crane Commission, which presented' its recommendations to the Peace Conference of 1919,6 stressing the opposition of the overwhelming majority of the population of Palestine to the establishment of a Jewish national home therein. 63. The chapters of the conspiracy began to unfold! when Britain occupied Palestine and secured a Mandate over it from the League of Nations. The provisions of the Mandate instrument? laid stress on the implementation of the Balfour Declaration. 64. Events later revealed how the mandatory Government enacted a constitution for Palestine incorporating the contents of the DeclaratiOfl and the instrument as the most 65. At the time of the Balfour Declaration the Arabs constituted, as I have already stated, 92 per cent of the population and the Jews 7.9 per cent. As a result of the encouragement of the biased mandatory authority, the Jewish populatioi:l began to increase. In 1922 the per- centage of the Jewish population in relation to the whole population became 11.1 per cent, and in 1931 it rose to 18.6 per cent. In 1944 the percentage of the Jewish popula~ion reached 31 per cent. 66. In spite of this flagrant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, the Arab population at the end of 1946, that is, on the eve of the adoption of the partition resolution, stood at about 1.25 million, whereas the number of Jews, in spite of the rapid rise in immigration, remained at 600,000. 67. Ever since the establishment of the first Zionist settlement in Palestine in 1886, the Palestinian Arab people resisted this Zionist onslaught with a determination far beyond their meagre means of defence. They expressed rejection through various forms of struggle, culminating in their great revolution in 1936, which lasted three years, during which they held the longest strike in the history of the land in protest against the dual enemy represented by Zionist colonialism and the British Mandate. The toll among the Palestinian Arab people, which numbered 1 million at the time, was over 5,000 killed and 15 000 . ' wounded. The British forces suppressed the revolution by resorting to various mudern weapons such as tanks and aircraft. Large numbers of troops were used to quell the revolution. More than 5,600 Arabs were arrested and 54 were sentenced to death. The British mandatory authority declared a s.ate of emergency in Palestine in order to divest the Palestinian Arab people of their arms and imposed the heaviest penalties for the possession of arms, including sticks. At the same time the Zionist terror organizations were stockpiling weapons with the approval and assistance of the mandatory authority. This assistance was acknow- ledged by Ben-Gurion in his article published in The Jewish Obsen1er on 27 September 1963. , 68. Those were the roots of the conspiracy, in which many evil efforts were combined and which p<wed the way for the establishment of the Zionist entity in Palestine in flagrant violation of the values cherished by the inter- national community. 69. The second blow was perpetrated when the same conspiratorial forces impelled the United Nations General Assembly to adopt resolution 181 (11), partitioning Pales- tine, in the year 1947. By so doing, the United Nations violated its own Charter and overstepped its mandate, since, in contravention of the sacred right to self-determination set forth in Article 1 (If the Charter, it prescribed a political status for the great majority of the population of Palestine without consulting them, and thereby paved the way for the greatest political tragedy of our time. 71. Instead of placing Palestine, which was then held under Mandate, under the Trusteeship System in accord- ance with Article 77 of the Charter or granting the Palestinian people the right to self-determination in ac- cordance with Article 1 of the Charter, the General Assembly adopted its resolution partitioning Palestine under the' pressure of the imperialist countries and the Zionist movement. Even the p~rtition resolution-towards whose adoption the Zionist pressure groups in the United States worked so assiduously to influence undecided States, notably some in Latin America-was ignored and never impleme!1ted by the Zionist entity. 72. The Zionist entity has so far ignored 109 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and 82 resolutions adopted by the Security Council since 1947 until this very day. It has not abided by any of these resolutions. 73. It should be noted in this connexion that the admission of the Zionist entity to the world Organization was conditional upon its acceptance of resolution 194 (Ill) of 1948, which proVided in paragraph 11 for the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. That was never honoured by the Zionist entity, which to this day is continually obstructing the work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people. In this connexion, I wish to pay a warm tribute to that Committee for its constructive and objective work. 74. Another example of the wanton disregarc by the Zionist entity of the resolutions of the world Organization is its refusal to admit the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Popu- lation of the Occupied Territories set up by the General Assembly. I would be remiss if I failed to pay a tribute to the efforts of the Special Committee. Its unbiased work deserves the admiration of all. 75. Yet another of the numerous examples of the.wanton conduct of the Zionist entity is its refusal since 1967 to ,.apply the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 to the occupied Arab territories in spite of Security Council resolution 237 (I967). 76. The statement of Yigal AIJon in the Knesset, published in Ha 'aretz on 1 August 1975, to the effect that whether Israel is inside or outside the United Nations is of no importance, in their view, as the only effect of its membership is merely psychological, again demonstrates the Iow esteem in which the world Organization is held by the Zionist entity. 77. No sooner had the Zionists achieved their first colonialist dream than they widely opened the door of immigration at the expense of the Palestinian people, the 78. Apart from the foregoing, a number of laws were enacted during the period 1948-1960 relating to land. Some of these laws provide for the confiscation of land-that is, of course, the confiscation of Arab land and its transfer to the Zionists. There was also the law on the acquisition of the absentees' property, The Absentees' Property Law, which considered any Arab who was abs-~nt from his home for any period of time, even for only a few hours~ to be an absentee. The property was then taken over by the military authorities and the owner was considered to have ob- structed the establishment of the Zionist entity. Under that law, the property of 30,000 Arabs was confiscated in 1962. There is also the Law of Prescription and the Law for the Concentration of Agricultural Land. All these laws aim at dispossessing the Arabs of their agricultural land. Of 370 Jewish settlements established in the period 1948-1953, 350 were established on the lands of displaced Arabs. In 1954 more than one third of the Jewish population was settled on the lands of absentees and in their property and homes. The Arabs who remained in Palestine were not safe from the large-scale process of usurpation. Up to 1976, a total of 40 per cent of the lands belonging to the Arabs who were present was confiscated. 79. Furthermore, the Zionist entity enforced the noto- rious Defence (Emergency) Regulations, which were legis- lated by the British mandatory authorities in 1945 and about which the Zionist Shapiro, who later became the Minister of Justice, bitterly complained, saying that the regulations had no parallel in any civilized country, not even in Nazi Germany. Upon becoming Minister of Justice, Shapiro himself supervised the application of that law to the Arabs alone. 80. All these laws prove beyond any shadow of doubt the racist nature of the Zionist entity, which is a discriminatory society based on purely religious foundations and is, as such, very similar to the racist regimes in Africa. I need hardiy remind you of the inhuman treatment meted out to the oriental Jews in the Zionist entity which led many of them to long for their previous homelands. The radical change in the membership· of the United Nations in the interest of the peoples of the world and the weakening of the grip of the imperialist Powers on the world Organization enabled the General Assembly to adopt its memorable resolution 3379 (XXX) considering zionism as a fonn of racism ~nd racial discrinlination. We all know the panic that gripped the Zionist movement as a result of the adoption of that resolution, which made the Zionists and their sup- porters resort without avail to all kind of pressures before and after its adoption. 81. So much for the racist nature of the Zionist entity. As regards its atrocities in Palestine, they are too many to enumerate. It is enough for me to remind the Assembly of "Three hundred persons were massacred without any military reason or provocation of any kind: old men, women, children newly-born were savagely murdered with grenades and knives by Jewish troops of the Irgun entirely under the control and direction of their chiefs." M. de Reynier described Zionist troops he met on the scene of the massacre as: "... men and women armed with pistols, sub-machine guns and large bayonets most of which were still bloodstained." 82. That was followed by the massacre of Kafr Kassim in 1956 and the massacre of Qibya and hundreds of other atrocities which were a blot on humanity, but whose perpetrators unabashedly attach the label of terrorism inherent in them to those who are struggling to regain their rights to their homeland. 83. In spite of the attempts of the Zionist entity to cover up its expanding relations with the racist entities in southern Africa, the international community has concen- trated on those relations, to such an extent that they were condemned by the international. Organization through various resolutions. The relationship between the Zionist entity and the racist entity in South Africa dates back to the undertaking by Smuts to Weizmann to adopt the cause of Zionism. That is evidenced by Vorster's statement published by Hayom Haze, which is as follows: "Israel is the twin sister of South Africa. Like South Africa, it is dominated by a white racist regime, which is keen on keeping the blacks as hewers of wood and drawers of water as ordained by God." 84. One should not really wonder at that: the Zionist entity and South Africa are both based on settler colo- nialism. Each of them seized the land of the indigenous population of the country through illegitimate ways and means, wrested their ownership from the citizens and has remained in power through brute force. Both of them are ~ctively engaged in transforming the indigenous population mto stra~gers. On the one hand there is 3 Zionist movement persecuting the Palestinian people, and on the other an Afrikaner nation persecuting the Africans. One is a racist movement engaged in emptying Palestine of its Arab population and replacing them by Zionists with the aim of expanding and implementing the programmes of zionism, and the other is a racist movement which exploited the great majority of the population of South Africa and expanded at the expense of Namibia. Just as the United Nations General Assembly adopted numerou~ resolutions calling upon South Africa to renounce tIte policy of apartheid after the Western Powers had continued to oppose such resolutions on the pretext that the United 85. One of the racist manifestations of the Zionist entity is its failure to become a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [resolution 2106 A (XX)J and the Inter- national Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid [rl~solution 3068 (XXVIII)]. It signed the first convention in 1966 but failed to ratify it, and has not even signed the second. 86. The present Prime Min.ister of the Zionist entity revealed his views on the relations between the two racist entities when he made the folllowing statement during his visit to South Africa in 1968: "Israel is considered to be part of the Western world. Hence its presence in the area serves the West. It is furthermore a perpetuation of the Western presence in the area. Israel must therefore stretch its hand to its allies in South Africa and Rhodesia which are part of the Western world and the product of its civilization amidst backward areas." 87. The expansionist policy of the Zionist entity is the manifestation in practice of the Zionist expansionist ideo- logy, which has laid emphasis ever since its inception on the necessity for expansion. Herzl's reply to an inquiry about the frontiers of the land they seek to secure was as follows: "We demand what we need; the more the number of immigrants increases, the more our need for land in- creases." 88. The idea of the establishment of "the State of Israel" has passed through stages from the mere call to allow Jews to immigrate to Palestine, to the claim for a national home under British Mandate and the demand made publicly at the Zionist Conference, held in the Biltmore Hotel in New York in 1942,8 for the establishment of a Zionist State and the termiriation of the Mandate. The same applies to the frontiers of the Zionist State. After the Zionist movement had hailed the victory achieved through the adoption of the partition resolution, the Zionist entity managed to expand its geographical area through the 1948 war by around 50 per cent more than the original area allotted to it by the partition resolution, and began to denounce that resolution and to refuse to implement it. It is obvious that the 1948 frontiers were never the end of the road for the ambitions of the Zionist expansionists. In this connexion, after the 1948 war Ben-Gurion said: . "Certain circumst~nces will arise in the future, and we must make use of these circumstances to expand the 8 See The Middle East and North Africa, 1976-77 (London, Europa Publications Limited, 1976), pp. 58-59. 90. It is well known that the Zionist entity is the only one in the world whose fundamental laws do not provide for the delimitation of fixed borders for the country. The. delimitation of the borders was actually left to the material and military capability of the entity. In the words of Golda Meir, the fonner Prime Minister of the Zionist entity: "The international borders of Israel are detennined according to where the Jews settle." That explains the great effort exerted by the Zionist entity to establish Zionist settle-, ments in the Arab territories occupied after the 1967 war. 91. The Zionist movement has always camouflaged its expansionist ambitions by slogans and pretexts. In a memorandum presented by the representatives of the Zionist Organisation to the Peace Conference on 3 Feb- ruary 1919 under the title "Statement of the Zionist Organization on Palestine", those representatives proposed that the frontiers of Palestine should extend from near the town of Sidon in the north to the Hedjaz Railway, eastwards down to Akaba, and to the Mediterranean on the west. As to the southern border, this was to be left to negotiation. It is interesting to note that the justification by the Zionist organization at the time for demanding such frontiers was not based on religious but on economic grounds. In the words of the memorandum: "The boun- daries above outlined are what we consider essential for the necessary economic foundation of the country." 1 0 92. Now we hear the cry of "secure and defensible borders", taken up in the wake of the 1967 war, to justify further Zionist expansion, not only at the expense of the territory of the people of Palestine, but to cover the territories of other Arab States which were taken from them by force of arms. In this connexion, I need hardly recall the United Nations resolutions which repeatedly stress the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, such as the resolutions of the General Assembly on the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai after the 1956 war, and the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly on israel's withdrawal from the territories occupied after the 1967 war, and on the illegality of the annexation of the Arab city of Jerusalem. Yet the Zionist 93. The latest decisions of Begin's Government to legalize three settlements on the West Bank, to establish additional settlements and to extend Zionist laws to the population of the West Bank conclusively demonstrate the expansionist policy of the Zionist entity and the ext.mt of the Begin Governments's contempt for world public opinion. 94. Arab fears about the zionist entity and the Zionist movement are the product of our long experience, and of bitter reality, which have convinced us that zionism is an aggressive movement seeking the destruction of the Arab nation and the elimination of all that is Arab. It is the tool of neo-colonialism in the region, working hand in hand for their mutual interest in stemming the progress of the Arabs and impeding their renaissance and unity. The refusal of the Zionist entity to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the statements concerning its possession of a number of nuclear weapons, confirm our view. 95. Just as the African national movement is struggling against the doctrine of colonialism and racism represented by the white man, and just as Europe struggled against fascism represented by the Hitlerite Nazi regime, so is the Arab national movement struggling against zionism and its institutions. 96. Just as the rout of nazism as a doctrine has opened the way to living in peace with the Germans in Europe, the defeat of the apartheid regimes in Africa and of zionism in Palestine will open tile way to the coexistence of white and blacks in Africa and Arabs and Jews in the Arab world, particularly since a large percentage of those residing within the Zionist entity are from the Arab countries. 97. The establishment of a secular democratic State on the unified land of Palestine will guarantee the rights of all sects and minorities. The era of settler colonialism has gone forever. pciIestine is the land of the Palestinian people, who should decide their destiny by themselves. All those who came for colonialist ends should evacuate the country. That is the permanent solution which will achieve real peace. Other solutions are but manoeuvres aimed at consolidating aggression and expansion through a series of gradual processes leading to the ultimate aim charted by zionism and colonialism, which is the destruction of the Arab nation and the occupation of its lands. 98. That is the truth about the Palestinian question. Can the world Organization do anything for the cause of right, justice and peace? Yes, it can, by dealing with the following questions. 99. First of all, the Zionist entity is occupying' the territories of three Arab countries-Egypt, Syria and Jordan-in contravention of intemationallaw and of many 100. Secondly, any support extended to the Zionist movement leads to increa~ed tension and the perpetuation of the conflict in the Arab region, which in turn constitutes a threat i.o world peace. The United States military supplies to the Zionist entity constitute the most salient form of such support, which has made the United States the main supplier of modern, sophisticated weapons to Tel Aviv- apart from the financial support given by the United States, which has reached astronomical figures. In a comment made by Senator William Fulbright in the wake of the second Sinai Agreement, signed in 1975, he said it was expected that during the coming five years United States financial assistance to Israel would reach $9.9 billion. 101. As for Itzhak Rabin, he said in an introduction to the 1977 Yearbook 1 1 of his Government: "We contribute only 45 agorot from our sweat for each Israeli pound entering the regular budget, whereas the rest comes from the United States and from loans and donations by the Jewish people." 102. Thirdly, the other aspect of the process of support for the Zionist entity takes the form of immigration to that entity. The active encouragement of immigration to Pales- tine by world zionism bears the dangerous seeds of the need for more land, causing expansion-which is bound to lead to more wars and the perpetuation of the displacement of the people of Palestine. 107. It is necessary to take speedy and serious steps to translate the United Nations resolution on the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East {resolution 31/71/ into practical measures and to expose the obstructionists. The spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East not only constitutes 'a massive danger to the peoples of the region, but could also be the fuse that would set off a world-wide explosion. The failure of the inter- national Organization to play its part in preventing the Zion.::t entity from continuing to produce nuclear weapons woul<i impel the other States in the area to defend themselves with the same weapons. 104. Fourthly, ever since the adoption of the partition resolution, the world Organization has adopted a series of resolutions which stress the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland and their right to self-determi- nation, particularly resolution 3236 (XXIX). The setting up of the 20-member Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people was a positive step. The recommendations of the United Nations General Assembly at its last session stressing the necessity of working towards the return of the Palestinian people to theii land were based on an unequivocal and specific programme. But we are now witnessing a series of eco- nomic, political and military measures taken by the Zionist entity aimed at the further displacement of Palestinians from the occupied Arab territories, whether in the Gaza Strip or on the West Bank. We call upon the United Nations and'itb specialized agencies to pay due attention to these dangerous manifestations and to prevent their further escalation through the drawing up of economic, cultural, health and social programmes to enable the Arab popu- lation to remain in the occupied terrStories. 103. We believe in the necessity of a General Assembly initiative to discuss this question and take such measures as will condemn and halt this immigration to Palestine. 11 Sce Itzhak Rabin, "Understanding with the United States", The Israel Yearbook 1977 (Tel Aviv, Israel Yearbook Publications Ltd., 1977). 106. Sixthly, the danger of the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East is no longer sheer imagination. Various indications and information point to the determination of the ~ionist entity to acquire nuclear weapons. In an interview on French television in February 1976 Moshe Dayan said: "The future, for Israel, shou1d include the option and possibility of possessing nuclear weapons, without foreign supervision." The United States Central Intelligence Agency reported last ;vear that !srae1 possesses 10 to 20 atomic bombs ready for use. 108. Seven.thly, and finally, it should be noted that if we want this world Organization to fulfil its mission and gain the confidence of the peoples of the world, its Members must shoulder their responsibilities. The United Nations is what its Members want it to be. Proceeding from this premise, we believe in taking serious steps to prevent the resolutions of this Organization from remaining merely ink on paper. Nor should a Member of this Organization be allowed to become so brazen as to tear up and ignore the resolutions of the Organization, as the representative of the Zionist entity has done and is still doing. 109. The admission of the Zionist entity to membership in the United Natiol\s was conditional upon its acceptance and implementation of United Nations resolutions. Nevertheless we find Tel Aviv, after 30 years and the adoption of more than 200 resolutions by the General Assembly and the Security Council, ignoring and rejecting the implementation of the various United Nations resolutions. 110. Are we to adopt further resolutions that wili TIot be implemented, or has the time come to take deterrent action Ill. Mr. AL-SUWF1DI (United Arab Emirates) [inter- pretation from Arabic): Mr. President, I have much pleas- ure, first of all, in extending to you my delegation's congratulations on your election to the presidency of the thirty-second session of the General Assembly. Your election to this post reflects the 'high, regard and respect in which Yugoslavia is univer~Jly held, especially by the non-aligned countries, for the pioneering and leading role it has played in the creation and consolidation of the non-aligned group' and for its efforts to strengthen the foundations of world peace and security based on the principles of equality and justice. This election also reflects our appreciation of your own impressive record in the fields of law, journalism, foreign policy and diplomacy. 112. I am also happy to express, on behalf of the delegation of the United Arab Emirates, our deep gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Hamilton Amerasinghe, who pre- sided over the previous session with such admirable ability and distinction. His presidency of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea continues to evoke our appreciation and admiration. 113. The Government of the United Arab Emirates highly appreciates the untiring efforts of Mr. Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to attain the objectives and purposes of the United Nations Charter, in the forefront of which is the maintenance of international peace and security. 114. We 01:Jserve with great satisfaction the increasing acceptance of the principle of universality of our Organiza- tion, as demonstrated by the admission of new Member States. On this occasion my delegation is happy to extend its warmest congratulations to the ~1ster Republic of Djibouti on its admission to members..;'ip in our international Organization. The Republic of Djibouti has already joined our Arab family and we have declared more than once that we are prepared to do whatever we can to help that young Republic, following the attainment of its political indepen- dence, to deal with the difficulties and obstacles which face it at the present stage. I am also pleased to extendJur congratulations to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on its admission to membership in the United Nations and to wish its people, who have suffered long from war and diVision, all prosperity and progress. 115. The report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization IAI3211/ during the preceding year gives rise to both our concern and our optimism. It gives rise to our concern because it objectively underlines the magnitude of the difficulties and challenges facing our Organization in its efforts to preserve the peace and security of mankind. On the other hand, it gives us reason for optimism because it clearly emphasizes a fact that we should all recognize, namely the determination of our international Organization to spare no effort to solve those complex international prol:Jlems, the persistence of which could jeopardize world peace and security, thereby undermining the whole struc- ture of the United Nations itself. 117. Proceeding from this firm belief, the United Arab Emirates has acceded to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime ofApartheid and to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in all its Forms. In addition, we have never hesitated to extend material and moral support to our sister countries and to the African liberation movements in their struggle to restore the dignity of their peoples and recover their peoples' sovereignty over their national soil. 118. We have- confirmed this support in a positive and effective manner on several occasions, the last of which was the First Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity and the League of Arab States, held in Cairo in March of this year. 119. In this connexion, it should be said that we have noted with satisfaction the increased isolation imposed by the international community on the two racist regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia. During the last few months intensified eflorts have been made, particularly by some major Powers, to achieve a peaceful solution to this problem based on the recognition of the right of the black majority to administer their own countries, with a view to sparing the African continent the havoc of war and bloodshed. 120. While supporting the current efforts to achieve a peaceful solution of this problem, we still believe that the racist regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia are determined to persist in their intransigent attitude. Therefore it is necessary t.o adopt further practical and effective measures, especially on the part of the major Powers, to ensure the compliance of these racist regimes with the wishes of the international community. More assistance should also be made available to the African liberation movements to help them meet this racist challenge. 121. While international efforts are being mobilized to settle the issues of Namibia and Zimbabwe on a peaceful basis, important developments are taking place in the search for a peaceful solution of the problems of Palestine and the Middle East. 122. It is now universally accepted that the settlement of these problems cannot be achieved except on the basis of the exercise by the peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe and Palestine of their right to .self-detemlination, independence and national sovereignty. This unanimity, however, is challenged by Vorster in respect of Namibia, by lan Smith in respect of Zimbabwe and by Begin in respect of Palestine. 123. It is not necessary for me to reiterate that the issue of Palestine is the core and essence of the problem of the 124. Bearing all this in mind, how could anyone, including Israel, conceive of, or even consider, the possibility of a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict without a solution of the Palestine problem and without the participation of the Palestinian people through their genuine and legitimate representative in the peace-making process? 125. The refusal of Israel to recognize this fact leads us to . conclude that Israel does not really wish to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, nor does It want the establishment of peace and security in the Middle East. 126. This conclusion is obvious to anyone who has any knowledge of the Zionist d0ctrine and is aware of its purposes and follows the implementation of its pr\>t,;~mmes in Palestine. This leads us to a fundamental principle in the Zionist strategy, namely, that the perpetuation of a state of tension and strife is the best guarantee for the consolidation and expansion of Israel, since it galvanizes material and moral support of the Jewish community In the world and therefore the establishment of the Zionist entity on Palestinian territory. 127. There is enough evidence to support this conclusion in the recent measures taken by the Government of Menachem Begin t'J set up settlements and to apply Israeli laws to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Such measures are obviously designed to integrate those areas within Israel. 128. Israel is fully aware that these measures have been condemned and rejected not only by the Arabs but by the whole international community, as has been manifested in the various statements and declarations made by different States and organizations, including some made by those who are known to be supporters of Israel. However, those States should not content themselves with a condemnation of such measures but should rather seriously reconsider their military and financial aid to Israel, for without such aid Israel could never persist in its expansionist policies. Although Israel is well aware of these facts, it still pursues its aims of annexing Arab territories, with the consequent frustration of all peace efforts and the prolongation of the state of tension and conflict in our region. 129. We fully appreciate the statements made by those in the highest positions of responsibility in the Governments of certain major Powers condemning those measures as obstacles to peace. We hope that such statements will be translated into specific actions in accordance with the provisions of the fourth Geneva Convention re'ative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,.2 a convention to which Israel is a party. Under article n, all 131. It is indeed regrettable that the question of Cyprus remains without a solution' that could bring a just and permanent peace to the people of the island. The Secre- tary-General has indicated to us in his report on the work of the Organization that progress so far has been slow and disappointing. Faced with that fact, we cannot but repeat our appeal to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldehim, to continue his efforts, which we fully appreciate, in order to reach a settlement that will ensure the peaceful coexistence of the Greek and Turkish communities within a federal system protecting the interests of both sides and guarantee- ing the island's territorial integrity and non-alignment. 132. The issue of the Comorian island of Mayotte is another of the urgent matters included in the agenda of this session of the General Assembly [item 125J. The General Assembly considered this question at its previous session and adopted resolution 31/4 affirming that the island of Mayotte was an integral part 9f the Comoros. On 18 October 1976 our representative affirmed that the contin- uation of the island of Mayotte outside the national sovereignty of the Comoros was a matter of concern for most States, especially Arab and African States, which maintdin strong relations of friendship and co-operation '!ith rrance.I J We still hope that the issue will be resolved in a manner that will ensure the territorial integrity of the Comoro islands and will maintain the strong ties of friendship which exist between France and the Arab and African States. 133. The failure to achieve any substantial progress on the question of disarmament is a matter of concern to us. The arms race and' the proliferation of lethal weapons, whether nuclear or otherwise, is a heavy burden on humanity and endangers international peace and security. We therefore believe that it is essential to take practical and concrete steps for the reduction of military budgets and the transfer of human and material resources from disarmament to the fields of development where they are most urgently needed. We are indeed hopeful that the special session of the General Assembly which will be convened next year for this purpose will take positive steps in that direction. 134. The United Arab Emirates has, since its indepen- dence, supported the Gen~ral Assembly resolution declaring 135. Our region has witnessed intense efforts during the past few years, and the General Assembly through its regular and special" sessions has adopted several resolutions aimed at bridging the gap between the developed industrial nations and the developing countries and at establishing a new international economic order based on justice and on more equitable economic relations which would ensure rapid progress for the developing countries and the im- provement of the standards ofliving of their peoples. 136. Then came the initiative of the Presirlent of the French Republic for the convening of the Conference on International Economic Cooperation, which was attended by both industrially developed countries and developing countries. However, after 18 months of intensive negotia- tion, the Conference failed to achieve any results and merely recommended that the dialogue on unresolved issues should be continued within the United Nations system and other related bodies. The resumption of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly 14 helped to underline the commitment of the developing countries to establish a new international economic order. in spite of the disappoint- ment brought about by the failure of the Conference on International Economic Cooperation. However, the re- sumed session of the General Assembly also failed to produce tangible results. 137. We beHeve that political security is closely linked with economic stability and that there can be no real political security as long as urgent and dangerous issues remain unresolved. The terms of trade continue to deter- iorate to the detliment of the developing countries. This has led to the rise of their indebtedness with the conse- quent increase of their heavy burden of debt. Those countries are thus obliged to allocate a high proportion of their export .earnings to service those debts at the expense of their basic imports from the industrialized countries. At the same time, the prices of primary commodities exported from developing countries to industrial countries continu~ to deteriorate with the resulting aggravation of their balance of payments. 138. The agenda of this session of the General Assembly includes a most important item, namely, the one relating to the North-South dialogue I i!<:m 67/. We believe that the United Nations is the most appropriate forum for the continuation of that dialogue. In spite of the failure of the Conference on International Economic Cooperation to produce definite results, we still believe that it has clearly defined the issues. The forthcoming debates will be difficult and strenuous, but they will be a necessary step towards the consolidation of international ecoflornic co-operation. 14/bid., I08th and I09th meetings. 140. The United Arab Emirates, itself a developing coun- try, belongs to the third world and to the group of non-aligned countries. It has contributed and will continue to contribute to any international co-operative effort, inspired by its deep faith in the principles of the United Nations Charter and its fundamental aim of promoting human welfare and establishing an international economic order based on justice and equality.

Your election, Sir, as' President of the thirty- second session of the General A<:')embly is proof of your personal qualifications, and an indication of the high standing of your country, Yugoslavia, in the international community as one of the founding countries of the non-aligned movement of which my country is a member. I have the pleasure, therefore, on behalf of the delegation of Bahrain, to congratulate you warmly and to wish you success in this respect. 142. I should like to express my thanks and appreciation to Mr. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe for the work he did as President of the thirty-first session, with his well-known ability and skill, which helped to make a success of the work of that session. 143. I should like, also, to express the appreciation of my Government for the ability shown by the Secretary- General, Mc. Kurt Waldheim, in carrying on the duties of his high post, at a time when the United Nations is expected to play an increasingly important role in inter- national affairs. Mr. Waldheim has been able to serve faithfully the principles of our Organization and deploy unremitting efforts for their implementation. 144. The international Organization, in spite of the reverses and challenges it has encountered, has been able in the last 32 years to accomplish much of the work and objectives for which it was established. The Organization has made commendable efforts to preserve world peace and security, and has been able, by its timely intervention, to contain some local disputes and prevent them from deteriorating into global destructive wars. It has laid down the foundations of an integrated world system for the exchange of aid and technical knowledge among States in various fields. It has become truly an international forum for the exchange of views and the co-ordination of efforts among States to build a world in which peace and prosperity prevail. 145. No wonder that, after they attain independence, States hasten to join this international Organization, since they realize that no nation in this small world can live apart from other members of this family of nations. The membership of the Organization increases every year by th: admission of States which have recently acceded to independence by the efforts of their own people, and through the efforts of the United Nations in resisting colonialism and increasing the momentum for the indepen- dence of nations. 148. This period in the history of humanity is character- ized by the dialogue taking place between the nations and peoples of the world. The world has thus been able to avoid confrontation in many areas. 149. On this assumption, the Arab world has entered into a dialogue with Europe for the purpose of laying down the main foundations for mutual action by the two sides with a view to achievir.g economic, social and cultural develop- ment between the peoples of the Arab world and Europe. Such a dialogue, as well as the dialogue between the developing and industrialized countries, serves the causes of world peace and co-operation for the benefit of humanity at large. 150. On the same assumption, the First Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity and the League of Arab States, which was held in Cairo in March of this year, succeeded in laying down solid foundati0ns and bases for co-operation and solidarity between the African -peoples and the Arab world in the political, economic, social and cultural fields. The joint declarations which were issued at the end of the Conference [see A/32/61] made clear the joint political will and firm determination to work for the strengthening of the historical, civilizational and cultural ties between the Arab and African peoples, so that they may carry out their human misssion of spreading peace, progress and well·being in the world. 151. The resources of the planet on which wc live. although abundant, are nevertheless limited in view of the ever-increasing population of the world. The peace of the world depends on an equitable distribution of wealth, which reqUires the restructuring of present world economic relations and conditions. The wide gap between the standard of liVing of people in the third world and that of the people in the developed countries is a danger signal, which impedes security and progress in the world. Many of the inhabitants of the developing countries are still living in a state of poverty and malnutrition, threatening famine and the spread of disease. It is inconceivable that about three fourths of the population of the world in developing countries should be allocated less than one third of the total revenue of the world, while about one fourth of the 152. We have shown, since the sixth and seventh special sess\ons, the importance- and need to narrow the vast gap between the wealthy nations in the North and the millions of poor people who live in the South. This can never be achieved unless \lie put an end.to the painful conditions arising from the existence of very wealthy countries and others which are poor to the degree of deprivation, and unless we establish a new world economic order based on justice and equity and the right of all States and peoples to enjoy full sovereignty over their nat,';al resources. 153. The results of the Conference on International Economic Co-operation, the North-South dialogue held in Paris last June, which attracted the attention of the whole world, fell short of expectations with regard to laying down a comprehensive and equitable programme for international economic co-operation as an effective contribution to the development of the third world. The Conference was a good opportunity for the industrialized and developing countries to prove their good intentions concerning the establishment of a new international economic order to replace the current unjust order of the concepts and rules governing commercial dealings between the industrialized and developing countries. 154. The position of tl'te developing countries participat- ing in the Conference was characterized by flexibility and moderation. These countries have proved that their inten- tion was not to transform the Conference into Cl confronta- tion with the industrialized countries. On the contrary, their stand was characterized by wisdom, logic, frankness and moderation. We hope that constructive discussions and good intentions will prevail during our discussions in this session on the results of the Conference on International Economic Co-operation, so that the Conference may reach the noble goal which we all work for: namely, the establishment of the new international economic order based on justice, equity and equality among the States of the world. It is our hope that the industrialized States will show more flexibility and understanding of the position of the developing countries, so that we may reach more constructive . results in the field of international co- operation, and so that the industrialized countries may contribute effectively to the development of the third world, particularly through allowing the developing coun- tries to participate effectively and freely in the utilization of technology and industrialization, as weB as establishing an order which strikes a balance between the prices of basic commodities and raw materials exported by developing countries and those of manufactured goC'ds and technology imported by such countries. 155. Racism and racial discrimination has been one of the problems confronting the-United Nations since its establish- ment. It is completely inconsistent with the principles and Charter of the United Nations. How, one may ask. can the United Nations permit a Me1!1ber State recklessly to violate, 156. Therefore we participated in the issuance of a statement by the Foreign Ministers of non-aligned countries at their extraordinary meeting in New York on 30 September last {A/32/266-S/12412/ on the current situa- tion in southern Africa and the ever increasing brutal repression of the peoples of Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa by the racist colonialist authorities. We appeal to all States to respond to the contents of that statement. 157. Bahrain has consistently supported the rights of oppressed peoples and countries to self-determination and independence and the application of the principles of equality, equal opportunities and justice for all races of the world without exception, irrespective of colour, lace, origin or faith. We have on more than one occasion and in more than one assembly condemned absolutely the policies of apartheid and racial discrimination wherever and however they are applied, particularly those of the racist regimes in South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and Palestine. 158. I should like now to move on to the question of complete and comprehensive disarmament. It is one of the important questim's taking a prime place in the discussions and work of the General Assembly at each and every session. There are about 20 items on this session's agenda on the question of disarmament, which clearly shows the inlportance Member States attach to it. This led the non-aligned countries at the last session to submit a proposal for the holding 0: a special session of the General Assembly to study this question in all its aspects. 159. The arms race is one of the most important probiems facing the world today, particularly the developing world. The huge arsenals of conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons which some States build cause increas- ing concern because they threaten the existence of hu- manity on our small planet and stimulate the outbreak of wars among States. It is indeed regrettable that huge amounts of money should every year be dissipated on the development of destructive conventional and strategic weapons instead of being spent on development projects and on alleviating the burden of indebtedness of the poor countries. It is estimated that this year about $300 billion has been spent on armaments-at a time when the majority of people in our world are living in hunger, squalor and deprivation. 160. In the Middle East we find Israel building a huge arsenal of weapons to consolidate its occupation of the land of States Members of this Organization, refusing to rec- ogni7-e the rights of the people of Palestine and acting as a fortress for continuous aggression and expansion at the expense of others. 162. The danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons increases every year. There are indications that both Israel and South Africa possess the ability to make a nuclear weapon. The ability of those two racist regimes in Palestine and South Africa to possess and to make nuclear weapons endangers international peace and security not only in the Middle East and on the African continent but all over the world. Therefore we consider it the duty of the inter- national community represented in this hall to spare no effort to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to ban all nuclear experiments, as well as to prevent the production and use of many destructive weapons, including biological and chemical weapons. 163. Bahrain has on more than one occasion unreservedly supported the proposal for the Middle East to become a nuclear-weapon-free zone and for the Indian Ocean and all its natural extensions to be a zone of permanent peace and security. Therefore in our area, in the Gulf, we have started to engage in contacts and dialogues with all the States lying on the Gulf to establish the bases for mutual co-operation to keep the area far removed from the dangers involved in the rivalries of outside States. We therefore support the proP0Sal for the holding of a conference to put into effect the Declaration on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, provided thorough preparations are made for the con- ference. 164. We hope that the special session of the General Assembly on disarmament to be held next spring will be able to deal with all matters of disarmament without exception and will strive to reach the goal or' disarmament for development. 165. Almost 30 years have now elapsed, and the people of Palestine are still outside their land and home. When, in November 1947, the Organization adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine {resolution 181 (I/)/, inter- national zionism sheJ'tered behind that resolution to attack the Arab people of Palestine within their own home and expel them. from the land of their fathers and forefathers. The Palestinian people were then unarmed and without Government admipjstration. They were in fact still under the mandate of the international comJllunity as represented by this Organization. Therefore the international Organiza- tion bears a special responsibility towards Palestine and its people. 166. Since those tragic events the Organization has adopted numerous resolutions calling for the return of the Palestinians to their homes, compensation for their losses and the guaranteeing of the exercise of their lawful and inalienable rights of sovereignty in their country. But Israel has flatly rejected all those resolutions; it has usurped the land (If the people of Palestine, expelled them from Palestine by cruel force, and replaced them with foreign immig.rants to establish a racist regime supported 'by imperialism. 168. The establishment of such settlements on occupi~d land is increasing day after day. The settlements are spread over the occupied land of Palestine and neighbouring Arab States. They stand as proof of the colonialist and racist intentions of Israel in the area. They have been established to serve as fortresses to consolidate the existence of Israel in the area, to implement its expansionist policies and to disperse Arab families in the occupied land. They have been built m strategic positions, proving the evil intentions of Israel and its determination to remain in the occupied territories for ever. These intentions are no secret t~ anyone, particularly after the recent declarations of the rulers of Israel that 2ny Israeli has the right to settle in the occupied land of Palestine, that being "part -of the Israeli heritage". 169. Israel has tak~n severe repre~~i·.';; measures agair.3t the Arab population in the occupied territories and has thrown many of its members into gaol, where they are subjected to the worst types cf torture, contrary to all basic human rights. All such measures are contrary to the fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and to the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council concerning solution of the pending crisis and the non-alteration of the legal status of the occupied territories, which consider all such meas- ures null and void. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has more than once condemned Israel for violating the said Geneva Convention in the occupied Arab territories and considers such violations to be war crimes and an affront to humanity. 170. The expansionist policy of Israel in the area is the most dangerous threat to peace and security in the world. The situation is explosive and threatens the outbreak of a destructive war whose repercussions would extend to other areas of the world. The regrettable events in the Middle East are no more than a result of the tension prevailing in the area, which Israel exploits in order to pursue, openly or secretly, its aggressive policy and its intervention in the affairs of the neighbouring Arab countries. In this respect responsibility is borne by States which support Israel and supply it with military and material aid and condone its violation of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. 171. The obstinacy of Israel in its rejection of the rights of the Palestinian people is :"":O~lore than a manoeuvre to block the peaceful settlement of the question of the Middle East. The main problem is the case of Palestine and the Palestinian people and their right to exist as a people in their land and home. The occupation by Israel of parts of the neighbouring Arab countries is no more than the result of its expansionist policy in the area. The solution of this problem as a whole lies in the complete withdrawal of Israel 172. We therefore call for efforts to be intensified and world opinion to be marshalled to compel Israel to implement the resolutions of this Organization and to respond to the endeavours made to solve this problem by peaceful means, and for the reconvening of the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East with the presence of all parties concemed including -the Palestine Liberation Organizatio~. 173. We appeal to all the States of the world, with no exception, to halt all economic and military aid to Israel and to refrain from giving it any help which would inevitably lead to perpetuating the present situation and would encourage Israel to continue its aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people and the occupied Arab territories. 174. It is indeed regrettable iliat the Security Council has o.ot been able this year to consider the report and recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inaiienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the last session' by resolution 31/20. 175. We call upon the Security Council to put an end to all the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, which threaten world peace with the gravest of consequences, and to take the necer.sary steps to revoke aU Israeli measures imposed in this respect, particularly thuse relating to annexation, colonization and Judaization. 176. Israel has violated the United Nations Charter and its resolutions ever since it was first admitted to this Organiza- tion. It is well known that Israel's admission to the United Nations by resolution 273 (Ill) was subject to the following two conditions: first, that Israel undertake to respect fully the United Nations Charter as from the date of its admission to the United Nations; and, secondly, that it carry out the provisions of resolution 181 (11) on partition, and resolution 194 (Ill) permittiIlg the Palestinians to return to their homes. The Foreign Minister of Israel undertood at the time to accept both conditions. 177. It is clear that the undertaking of the- Foreign Minister of Israel was not genuine from the start. Israel has not honoured either of those two conditions. It has occupied since that time territories more than four times the area allotted to it under resolutitm 181 (11) and has not implemented resolution 194 (Ill) relating to the return of the Palestinians to their homes. 178. As preliminary measures to stop Israel from continu- ing its dangerous policy in the Middle East, we have sponsored the draft resolution submitted by the Arab Republic of Egypt at this session on recent illegal Israeli measures in the occupied Arab territories [A/32/L.12/. We have also adopted the two declarations issued by the Foreign Ministers of non-aligned countries [see A/32/255- 179. Our stand with regard to all these matters is derived from our firm belief in the principles and human objectives of the United Nations and our desire to co-operate with all peace-loving States within the system of the United Nations to build a more progressive world in which justice, security and prosperity will prevail.

IS India recently ac- complished a hi!Jtoric non-violent revolution. In a magnifi- cent assertion of the indomitable human spirit, our people reaffirmed in March last their firm faith in a free and open society. Calculated efforts by forces of darkness and tyranny to destroy democracy were decisively defeated. The March revolution was clearly of far-reaching signifi- cance for our 600 million people. We are happy that its significance has been equally appreciated by freedom-loving people all over the world. 181. Our people boldly upheld the basic principles, values and aspirations on which the United Nations was founded more than three decades ago, and regained their hard-won freedom and fundamental human rights. I have, therefore, great pleasure iil bringing to the United Nations the greetings of our people and of reiterating, on their behalf, at this thirty-second session of the General Assembly, india's abiding faith in the United Nations as an instrument for maintaining global peace and security and for promot- ing orderly progress through co-operation among nations based on justice and equality. 182. Our new Janata Government has been in office for barely six months. Nevertheless, much has already been achieved during this time. Basic human rights have been restored. The pall of fear that hung menacingly over our people has been lifted. Constitutional measures are being devised to ensure that democracy and fundamental free- doms can never be smothered again. But we are not going to rest content with this only. As solemnly affirmed by our Parliament on 22 July 1977, our people are determined to bring about by peaceful and legitimate methods "a socio- economic revolution, illuminated by democratic standards, vivified by socialist ideals and firmly founded on moral and spiritual values". 183. I am a newcomer to the United Nations, but India is not, having been associated actively with the Organization from its very inception. For me, it is a great privilege to address this Assembly. Indeed, as one who has been a 15 Mr. Vajpayee spoke in Hindi. The English veision of his statement was supplied by the delegation. 184. What has added to my pleasure is to have in the Chair, Mr. Presidellt, the representative of a country which, together with India, was one of the founders of the non-aligned movement, and with which we have firm bonds of friendship. I extend to you, Mr. President, the cordial felicitations of my Government and myself on your unanimous election as President of the thirty-second General Assembly. Your election is as much a tribute to your personal eminence and wide diplomatic experience as to Yugoslavia and the role it has been playing in strengthen- ing the forces of peace and stability. We assure you of our fullest co-operation in the discharge of your responsibilities. 185. I also take this opportunity to pay a warm tribute to the outgoing President, Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, the representative of our close neighhour, Sri Lanka, for steering the thirty-first session with great tact and ability. 186. May I also join the other delegations in paying my sincere tribute to our Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Wald- helm, who brings to his htavy responsibilities wisdom, patience and a deep commitment to the United Nations and its role in the promotion of international understanding and global well-being. 187. I should, moreover, like to compliment Mr. Wald- heim for his thought-provoking r~port to the Assembly in which he has candidly drawn attention to the challenging tasks that lie ahead. The United Nations, he has pointed out, "presents unrivalled opportunities" [A/32/1, sect. XlIj and "is still to some extent, an Organization in search of its identity and its true role" [ibid.j. 188. The Janata Government stands firmly for peace, non-alignment and friendship with all countries. These policies have always represented India's national consensus and tradition. Non-alignment is a projection of national sovereignty in international relations. Its essence is not neutrality but freedom, which is the natural consequence of the struggle for the liberation of our nation from colonial rule and the liberation of the human spirit from subjugation and oppression. We believe in the true independence of nation-States and their freedom to pursue policies in their best national interests, and to judge every issue on its merit. 189. The new Government took the earliest opportunity, on assuming office, to declare its resolve not only to continue non-alignment but in fact to restore to the policy its original positive thrust. It is a matter of some satisfac- tion that our stress on genuine non-alignment and our decision to pursue the policy with vigour and dynamism has been understood and appreciated in its proper perspective. 190. The vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakum is an old one. We in India have all along believed in the concept of the world as one family. After many trials and tribulations there are prospects of realizing the dream in the shape of the United Nations which has reached near universality in 191. The United Nations Charter was a pledge not just by nations or for nations. It was a declaration on behalf of the peoples of the world to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and, what is more, to build a new world order in true freedom, 192. My thoughts are not in terms of the might and majesty of nations. Much more important to me are the dignity and demands of the common man. Our successes and failures should be judged ultimately by one yardstick alone: whether we are working towards social justice and dignity for all peoples, indeed for every man, woman and child. For its success the United Nations must become the effective voice of all humanity and a dynamic forum for collective action and co··operation based on inter- dependence between nations. 193. Our own history and political experience have taught us that the real sanction, indeed the ultimate power, rests in the will and response of the people, not in govrrnments. Thirty years ago under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi our people courageously fought the might of a great imperial Power and ended its domination over India without resort to arms. Earlier this year our people successfully frustrated attempts by a self-seeking regime to deprive them of their fundamental freedoms. 194. What came to pass took many friends abroad by surprise. But to me the great political courage shown by the people came from our ethos and tradition. The individual in India has always been given the pivotal place in our religious and philosophic tradition. Our scriptures and epics have all along made one central point: the cosmos and creation hinge on the individual and his fulfllment. 195. We have accepted all along that divinity may have many forms. Everyone in India is therefore free to pursue his own path to salvation, irrespective of birth or belief. At the same time, however, our seers, in an unbroken line from ancient Vedic times to the present, have taught us compassion and tolerance towards our fellow man. Gandhiji summed up the essence of this teaching in a favourite word: Antyodaya, which means "unto this last". This word, which he used time and again in his messages, signifies the concern which any society should have for the well-being of the poorest, the lowliest and the lost. 196. I am, therefore, convinced that our national as well as international politics must be constantly permeated with the thought of man, his happiness and well-being, and his essential unity with fellow beings. I am not thinking of man in the abstract. in whose name tyranny has been perpe- trated down the ages. What I have in mind is man of flesh and blood. Our central concern must be his joys and sorrows, his hopes and aspirations. 197. We stand for peace-a warm, living peace-which is the bedrock of all our efforts. Peace, however, is not just 198. Each nation-State has, no doubt, to preserve and promote its national inte.rests. But no country can live in isolation within the four corners of its frontiers. We have to recognize the inevitability of global interdependence for promoting human welfare and happiness in every part of the world. And interdependence demands that we should all look beyond our national horizons and display a spirit of accommodation and sacrifice in order to share with the rest of mankind the fruits of progress and prosperity. 199. The world has come a long way since India launched its national liberation movement against colonialism and imperialism. As an Asian country, we watche i with anguish the enormity of the suffering and sacrifice of the brave Vietnamese people in their long struggle for national liberation. Their ultimate success is a shining tribute to the might and power of the human spirit and its indomitable resistance to subjugation. 200. We are happy that the United Nations has rightly and properly mounted an international operation to provide assistance for the reconstruction of Viet Nam and for the rehabilitation of its people, as task in which my country is extending its full co-operation. 201. It is with a feeling of great joy that we welcome the entry of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam into the United Nations. We also extend a cordial welcome to a new African State, the Republic of Djibouti. The entry of these two countries into the United Nations has taken this Organiza- tion one step closer to its goal of universality. We have friendly ties with both countries and look forward to working with them in closest co-operation. 202. We mourn the passing of Archbishop Makarios, the Pr-esident of Cyprus, and pay our homage to his memory. The late Archbishop was a world statesman and one of the founding fathers of the non-aligned movement. He was the chief architect of the independence of Cyprus and its struggle to preserve its identity. 203. The· agenda before the Assembly is one covering a multitude of problems of current concern to the world. May I spotlight only a few specific issues which are -of great importance and urgency and must take priority in our collective deliberations. 204. Foremost among these problems is the momentous and agonizing struggle for human rights and freedom in southern Africa. India has always been opposed to unneces- sary bloodshed and violence in national affairs and inter- State relations. It stands for non-violence and for resolving conflicts along the path of peace and negotiations. Even during the dark period of foreign subjugation, India adhered to certain basic principles:·steadfast opposition to colonial oppression and total rejection of any form of racialism and suppression of human rights. India's dedication to these principles is even deeper today. 206. India would like to see the problem of Zimbabwe resolved at the earliest possible moment through peaceful means. It has thus welcomed the positive elements in the recent Anglo-United States initiative taken towards the establishment of genuine majority rule within a time-bound framework. We hope that the Security Council resolution adopted recently on the subject, resolution 415 (1977), will lead to a c~asef1fe and eventually to a solution of the problem. 207. Much will depend upon the willingness of the illegal Ian Smith regime to see reason and give up its arrogance and intransigence. Until the Smith regime is ousted from power and freedom is restored to the long-suffering people, we cannot expect the freedom fighters to lay down their arms. In the meantime, India reaffirms its support for, and solidarity with, the patriotic forces of Zimbabwe, who are valiantly fighting for the liberation of their country against heavy odds. If world opinion continues to be wilfully defied by lan Smith in a desperate bid to cling to power, the United Nations will have to exercise all its authority to widen its mandatory sanctions against the illegal minority regime and its South African supporter. That alone would hasten its collapse and help to restore to the people of Zimbabawe their inalienable right to determine their own destiny. 208. The authority, credibility and prestige of the United Nations face an equally stubborn challenge in Namibia, which has the status of an international Territory. It remains to be seen whether the efforts of the Western Powers can bring about the withdrawal of South Africa from Namibia so that the resolutions of the United Nations may be implemented. We condemn South Africa for its decision to integrate Walvis Bay, a part of Namibia, with the Cape Province. We also condemn South Africa for its reported plans to use a part of Namibian territory for nuclear testing. 209. We stand by the South West Africa People's Organi- zation and urge all nations to recognize its representative character. We cannot expect the people of Namibia not to resort to armed struggle if that is the only means left to them to achieve their goat of independence. However, ~he issue cannot be left to be resolved only by the efforts and struggle of that Organization. The United Nations has a collective and direct responsibility. It has by no means exhausted its capacity to discipline the South African regime into total withdrawal from Namibia. 210. While in southern Africa we face colonialism and racialism at its worst, in west Asia there remains an even more explosive threat to international peace. Here, too, some basic principles are involved, First, no one can be permitted to enjoy the fruits of aggression. Secondly, no people can be denied their inalienable right to their homel~nd. Thirdly, all border disputes should be resolved by negotiation and not by force. 212. Th~ United Nations must also reject and repudiate the recent efforts by Israel to alter further the demographic character of the territories occupied through new settle- ments on the West Bank and in Gaza. Unless resolved satisfactorily and in good time, the problem would have disastrous repercussions ~ar beyond the region. There is clearly urgent need to reconvene the Geneva Conference, with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organiza- tion in It. 213. The situation in Cyprus remains unresolved. We still hope that bicommunal talks may be resumed and a solution will be found which is consistent with the territorial integrity, sovereignty and non-aligned status of the Re- public of Cyprus. 214. Economic issues are an increasingly vital dimension of international relations. The concept of a new inter- national economic order based on equality and justice has already been accepted by the world community. We must now move forward to its early realization so that men and women everywhere may look forward to more just and equitable opportunities and rewards for their labours. 215. I mentioned earlier the challenge and paradox of how to balance national responsibilities with the imperatives of unavoidable international co-operation. After over 30 years with the United Nations we recognize, better than before, that no nation or group of nations can become islands of prosperity in an ocean of poverty. The discussions on international economic relations have been going on for more than two decades. Even the modest targets set for the current Second United Nations Development Decade have been either disregarded or diluted. The transfer of resources and technology has never been sufficient to correct the accentuated disparities.. 216. All these problems were vividly explained and pro- jected in the Conference on International Economic Co- operation, which ended in Paris this year. In the 18 months of long deliberations some progress WGS made, but results were deeply disappointing. A special fund is to be set up and some commitment to fulfil the allocation of overseas deveiopment aid has been reaffirmed. But the major problems of transfer of resources'and technology and relief from the burden of debt remain. The common fund within the Integrated Programme for Commodities has been agreed to in principle but remains to be realized in practice. 217. Arguments and theories are being put forward which do not show sufficient appreciation of the grave crisis confronting the developing countries. Perhaps that is due to the preoccupation of the developed nations with their own problems and difficulties. In many cases, what is being given by one hand is being taken away by the other. 219. The problems of the easing of trade bArriers iol' the developing countries and protection of remunerative prices for their exports remain more or less where they were following the energy crisis. The problem of oil-importing developing countries is so serious that they can look forward to nothing but mounting debts for survival. 220. We recognize that developed nations have their own internal social and economic problems. But they need to lift their perspectives and policies beyond immediate and narrow national concerns. One could ask, Would it not be economically sound to facilitate a significant flow of financial and technological capabilities from the developed to the developing world as an enlightened answer to structural problem~ for their own economies? An increase in the purchasing power of 3,000 miliion people inhabiting the developing countries could well provide an answer to the pl'Oblems of unemployment and economic dislocation in the affluent world. 221. India has participated with vigour and sincerity in all the deliberations of the world c.:>mmunity, not in a spirL of confrontation, but in the recognition that the world economic malaise requires a new sense of international interdependence. 222. In this regard I venture to suggest an approach which was suggested many decades ago by Mahatma Gandhi. He was indeed a universal man. Only two days ago we celebrated the one hundred and eighth anniversary of his birth. He had a clear perception of the world economic order based on certain principles which, in my opinion, may be summed up as follows. 223. First, all peoples have a right to the satisfaction of their primary needs, irrespective of the state of their economies, their levels of productivhy, or their geographic location. 224. Secondly, interdependence between nations must be without exploitation. Since there can be no genuine interdependence among unequals, action must be taken to correct this inequality. 225. Thirdly, the developing countries must pursue paths of individual and collective self-reliance as part of their over-all strategy to secure the transfer or resources and technology from the developed world. 226. Fourthly, despite their division into nation-States, the people of the world constitute one family. An integrated world economic order demands movement across frontiers, not only of goods, capital resources and technology, as at present, but even more so of people themselves. 229. Seventhly, the developing countries, no less than the developed world, must reduce the gap between their elite and their masses. An equitable world economic order can only be based on an equitable economic system within each nation. 230. As the second most populous country in the world, the dimensions of our problems are immense. Our achieve- ments are noteworthy, but challenging tasks lie ahead. As a country which has recently recommitted itself to the democratic path and the principle of rule by conseI1" our tasks tend to become more complex. 231. We halle no magic wand ')r instant solutions to the myriad problems inherited from the t1Car and the distant past. But we have reason to be optimistic and confident. In three deca~e:l of independence, the traditional genius of our people has enabled them to show their capacity to grasp the new opportunities offered by science and technology and to bend these modern tools of innovation and advancement to serve our own natioual n~eds. 232. While recognizing the advantages of international co-operation, we have sought to depen1d largely on our own effort for national progress and economic self-reliance. Our new Government is in the process of setting itself new priorities and removing the distorticns that have crept into our policies and planning. On the economic front, we want to move away from the "growthmanship" and blind imitation of industrializ~d States towards integrated plan- ning in which man is at the centre. 233. We propose to concentrate more on the development of our rural areas, where an overwhelming proportion of our people live and will always belong. We do not seek affluence based on elitist consumption. Man must be judged by what he is, and not by what he has. We want to provide our joble~ people with purposeful employment and fulfIl the basic needs of the underprivileged masses. We seek to arrest, if not to reverse, the process of urbanization, which has become 9ne of the biggest social and economic problems of the developing world-a subject on which Gandhiji sounded a note ofcaution many del:ades ago. 234. Even as India struggles for a better tomorrow, it has demonstrated its willingness to share the benefits of its economic and technological experience with 9ther develop- ing countries. Our professional and academic institutions have been providing training and instruction to thousands of students from other developing countries in diverse fields of social and economic development. We stand for increas- ing co-operation with other developing countries to mutual advantage, without in any way seeking exclusive advantage, either economic or political. 235. India seeks friendship with all and dominance over none. The Janata Government has actively sought to build 236. Four days ago, on 30 September, the representatives of 1ndia and Bangladesh initialled the text of an agreement on the Ganga waters issue. It is a comprehensive under- standing covering the short-term problem, and lays the foundation for a long-term solution to meet the optimum liequirements of both countries. 237. This problem has bedevilled the relations between us and our neighbour for 25 years. The agreement vindicates our faith that so complex a problem, affecting the economy and lives of millions of people of two neighbouring nations, could only be resolved in a spirit of shared sacrifice and mutual accommodation through sincerely motivated bi- lateral 'legotiations. 238. M:my political changes have taken place in the last year in 30uth Asia. Even so, it is a tribute to the people that th~ area is today freer of tension than it has been for decades. If, indeed, South Asia can find a recipe for peace and co-operation, all of us with similar burdens can then devote greater attention to development and to construc- tive endeavour. Kn fact, it is in this context that we make the special plea that the area around us-the region envelopllng the Indian Ocean-should be made free of great-Power rivalry and bases which can be used for aggressive actions. In the wider context, India welcomes the continuing search for detente-detente not only in Europe but eV3rywhere-so that the benefit:; flowing from it can be enjoyed by all. 239. Year after ye2: scores of resolutions have been "adopted at the United Nationg calling for general and complete disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament. The arms race, with the resulting arsenals of fearsome weapons, has reached such an alarming stage that the world is poised on the horns of a strange dilemma. We are told that nuclear weapons are necessary as a deterrent against war and that it is only the assunmce of their use that constitutes the core of deterrence. :le dQ not accept that thesi5. 240. We believe that nuclear weapons are dangerous whether they are in the possession of one country, some countries or many countries. We are not only against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we are against nuclear weapons themselves. India has been consistently opposed to the acquisition and development of nuclear weapons. Indeed, India was the first country to plead at the United Nations more than 20 years ago for a ban on the testing of all nuclear weapons. The great Powers were not in a mood to listen to us at that time. When they were reaay for it, they signed the partial test-ban Treaty. That was 14 years ago. The world rejoiced and believed that a comprehensive test-ban treaty was close at hand, but we are still waiting. More nuclear-weapons tests have been conducted since the partial test ban than prior to it. Weapon tests under ground 242. India embarked upon a programme for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy nearly 25 years ago. We continue to be committed to it. We fully share the view that non- proliferation of nuclear weapons should not be confused with non-dissemination of nuclear technology. We shall oppose, as before, any moves or measures that would stand in the way of the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy. We shall also oppose moves or measures that are discriminatory in nature. At the same time we are prepared to co-operate whole-heartedly with other countries in discm;sing ways and meP\ns of putting an end to the danger of nuclear weapons. 243. It is both urgent and necessary for the political mind to free itself of military ~ogic and for the political will to assert the force of reason and reverse the nuclear arms race in the direction of nuclear disarmament. We trust that the discussions in the special session on disarmament to be held next year will identify the priorities in nuclear disarmament and help the formulation of a time-bound programme· of realistic and concrete measures for disarmament widlOUt further delay. 244. Already the establishment of the new international economic order is being delayed because of diversion of scarce resources to *e futile arms race. World military expenditure is estimated to be more than $300 billion annually at current prices. Of this amount 90 per cent is accounted for by developed countries, which is equivalent to 20 times the official development l::ssistance now given by them to developing countries. Even 5 per cent of the total expenditure incurred by the developed countries could vastly help the efforts of the developing countries to achieve many of their modest economic goals. Disarmament is thus vital not only to ensure peace and security but to promote speedy economic and social progress. 245. A great deal undoubtedly remains to be done. We often complain of the lack of will or progress. However, there is no occasion for cynicism and despair. Despite our many disappointments the family of the United Nations has an impressive record of achievement. I would commend the work of the ILO, WHO, UNESCO, FAO, UNCTAD and many other bodies within the United Nations system. Given the required funds these bodies could do a lot more to alleviate human suffering and promote well-being. A case in point is the WHO efforts to eradicate malaria, which is again raising its ugly head: Its programme to eradicate this scourge from the globe is estimated to cost about $450 million-half of what is spent daily for military purposes- yet the programme is dragging for lack of funds. 247. In the final analysis, I return to my basic theme. The greatest task before us, which envelops all the issues confronting mankind, concerns the welfare of man, regard- less of race, colour, creed or nationality. All our problems, the questions of war and peace, economic malaise and rapidly diminishing natural resources, must lead us to one conclusion: in our interdependent world each one of us is his brother's keeper. 249. On behalf of India I 'pledge before this Assembly that our country will never be found wanting in its resolve to share in the sacrifice for the ideals of one world and for the welfare and greater glory of man. 250. lai lagat (Hail One World)!