UN General Assembly
1994

Middle East peace process and by the progress made on the Korean nuclear issue. United Nations peace-keeping operations can play a positive role, but not all of them have been successful. Experience and lessons learned in this regard should be summed up. It is our consistent view that peace-keeping operations should strictly conform to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the norms of international relations. Such operations should be undertaken with the consent and cooperation of the parties concerned, and an impartial and unbiased attitude should be maintained. No peace-keeping operations or humanitarian aid programmes should be permitted to interfere in the internal affairs of any country, still less to use force or become embroiled in a conflict between the parties. A lesson should be drawn from what befell the United Nations peace-keeping forces in Somalia. Here I wish to underline the importance of strict adherence to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as the basic means to prevent international conflicts. 9 These principles, namely, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression,