UN General Assembly
1974

239. We also hope that the eminent personalities of this world will accept the principle of respect for the sovereignty of all States over their territorial waters, including islands and straits, because it is inconceivable and not in the interest of world peace that the fleets of big naval Powers should continue roving the seas of the world without observing or respecting the sovereignty of the small States. In particular those States feel pain when they see the fleets of those Powers approaching their coasts carrying the most lethal weapons of destruction and devastation, including horrendous atomic weapons. We also hope that the seas, including the Indian Ocean, will become zones of peace and security and not zones for dangerous military rivalry. We sincerely hope on this occasion that the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean, of which Yemen has the honor to be a member, would arrive at proposals that would lead to avoiding this continued military rivalry between the big Powers in this part of the world whose importance is growing as a result of the growing importance of oil along its shores.