UN General Assembly
1973

374. The twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly is taking place against a background of what is considered by many a detente in international relations. My Government cautiously welcomes the easing of tensions in some areas of the world. There is clear evidence that such areas have moved away from a cold-war atmosphere and that peaceful coexistence among the nations concerned is no longer an optimistic slogan. This development can be seen in the bilateral and multilateral agreements between European nations in the last three years and in the meetings which have resulted in the establishment of peaceful and better relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and between the United States Government and the People's Republic of China. There is further evidence of this spirit of detente in the Helsinki Conference, which initiated a period of East-West co-operation in economic, industrial, cultural, scientific and environmental affairs and which set in motion concrete efforts to reduce military tensions.