UN General Assembly
1946

I stand before this great Assembly — unique in the annals of human history where representatives of freedom-loving countries of the world are gathered together — to proclaim not only the adherence of my country to the principles and purposes of the United Nations embodied in its Charter, but the determination of our people to help to make it a reality. We in India have pursued steadfastly, often at great cost, the goal of the freedom of peoples to which this great Organization is dedicated. We have yet to achieve our independence, but we have travelled so far along the road of freedom that today, for the first time, India’s delegation to an international assembly is briefed and accredited by a National Government, and speaks with a full sense of responsibility and authority vested in that Government by the confidence and sanction of our people. The head of our National Government and our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jawaharlal Nehru, has proclaimed our stand in relation to the United Nations in these words: