UN General Assembly
1983

169. I need hardly mention that another inevitable development consequent to big-Power military rivalry and their presence in our region is the time, money and other resources which have to be utilized to step up security and defence levels in various countries. During this era of world economic chaos, we can ill-afford that course of action. 170. We fully support the efforts of the United Nations to implement the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. We appeal to the world community to renew its efforts to that end. We strongly feel that the proposed conference on the Indian Ocean, to be held at Colombo, is a step that must be taken with the least delay. We remain firmly convinced that this conference will form a milestone in the march towards the achievement of our cherished objective.