UN General Assembly
1971

3. Although the present session opened with the usual ceremony and although at this session the General Assembly is called upon to examine questions which we might call conventional because they always appear on the agenda of our -sessions, this session, nevertheless, is of special importance because of the fact that the Assembly must take decisions which will surely exercise a determining influence upon the future of our Organization itself, as well as upon the history of international relations during the latter part of this century. 4. We refer, in the first place, to the election of a new Secretary-General to replace U Thant, whose departure we greatly regret. 5. A pilgrim of peace, U Thant has devoted himself for the past 10 years with remarkable skill to reconciling antagonisms and has undertaken many fruitful initiatives for the benefit of all mankind.