The first word I should like to mention as I mount this rostrum for the fifth time is hope, a difficult virtue. I am encouraged to do so, Mr. President, by your accession to this high office, which was distinguished last year by the prestige of Mr. Adam Malik. I am thinking of the ties which have linked my country to yours for almost six centuries, ties which, if such a thing is possible, will be strengthened still further by Mr., Gierek's forthcoming visit to France. I also have in mind the important lesson of perseverance that Poland has continually lavished on Europe and the world. But the virtue of hope has also been called to mind by the praises earned in a matter of months by our new Secretary- General-a worthy successor to the man who, for the sake of the United Nations, pushed himself to the very limit of his strength. We all knew that Kurt Waldheim excelled in every intellectual quality. Today we all know that he is no less distinguished by his strength of character. He is not a man to shun the new duties which loom in his path, and so it is to him that I would first address myself.
61.	France immediately and unconditionally condemned "the acts of terrorism and reprisals which are increasing the numbers of innocent victims", to quote the exact terms of the communique that my friend Mr. Schmelzer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, read on 12 September on behalf of the Conference of the 10 European Ministers of Foreign Affairs who were meeting near Rome. My country therefore shares the anguish of the Secretary- General and endorses his initiative, which we feel sets an example in two respects: first of all, because it aims at breaking the merciless chain of indiscriminate violence, and secondly, because the man who took this initiative intends to grapple not only with the most tragic consequences but also with the deep-seated causes of the problem, as the most authoritative voice in France again requested him to do some days ago in connexion with the Palestinian problem; that "human and therefore political problem". I am in particular happy that the Assembly has decided to include on its agenda the examination of the problem of international terrorism as a whole and that it has entrusted this task to its Sixth Committee, which will, I am sure, approach this urgent and painful issue with all the attention and to recall the word used a few moments ago by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon from this same rostrum-objectivity that it requires. Mr. Waldheim has, moreover, already proved this. No obstacle deters him when it is a question of implementing Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.
62.	Why should the spokesman for an old European country feel today despite all the preoccupations he and every one of us has  that hope prevails over his distress of mind? It is because this year has seen two events which are grounds for certainty: first of all, Europe is moving ahead; secondly, such a forward movement brings us nearer our common goal, namely, closer co-operation and better understanding with all peoples. If I ask your permission to link this central idea, like a conducting wire, to certain major issues which require our reflection, it is because I am speaking on behalf of a country which, as I say again deliberately, has allies but neither has nor wants enemies.
63.	So let us turn our attention to Europe, towards the whole of Europe, where we shall find grounds for reassurance.
64.	It was on 3 June 1972 that the Treaties of Moscow^ and Warsaw  were ratified. It was on 3 June 1972, at the same moment, that the final protocol of the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin was signed by Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Mr. Gromyko, Mr. Rogers and myself. This protocol implemented an agreement which has been supplemented by arrangements concluded by all the German authorities. The negotiations were difficult, but none of the parties imposed its point of view on the others. On the contrary, the balance achieved between the reciprocal concessions was an example worth following and could only serve to strengthen equilibrium in Europe.
65.	May the same spirit inspire the negotiators who are now striving to define relations between the two German States. The success of their efforts matters all the more for this Assembly because one of their objectives is to permit these two States to present themselves together before our Organization. When the time comes-and the sooner the better-the four Powers which will continue to have special duties vis-a-vis Germany and Berlin will undoubtedly be the first to want to support these two candidates for admission to the United Nations. We have become even more aware since China has joined us that the United Nations has a universal mission.
66.	One year ago [1942nd meeting] I said of the European Economic Community that it was in the process of being enlarged. On 1 January the Community will group together some 250 million Europeans. Meanwhile, owing to the success of the negotiations with countries which are members of the European Free Trade Association and are not applying for membership, a vast network of agreements will link the Community to the whole of Western Europe. In a month's time in Paris the Heads of State or Government of member countries of the Community will meet, as was said recently in the course of a Franco-Italian meeting by my colleague and friend, Mr. Medici, not so much to congratulate themselves on such a success, but rather to take stock of the responsibilities incumbent upon them, responsibilities first of all towards their own people who do not want European economic integration to lose in depth what it is gaining in breadth. On the contrary, they want to expand into new fields, beginning with those of currency and the battle against inflation,
67.	With regard to the other industrialized countries, the Community should also be prepared, without ever abdicating its autonomy of decision, to encourage extensive and balanced development of trade on the basis of reciprocal advantage.
68.	But the French Government feels that it is particularly essential for the enlarged Community to define vis-a-vis the developing countries and, in the first instance, vis-a-vis the former associates of the Common Market, a policy no less generous than that practiced by the six members, a policy worthy of being called European. Lastly, there can be no development restricted to Western Europe. Consequently, while Western Europe is being built, the countries which comprise it are striving to strengthen their ties or to forge new ties with the nations which inhabit the eastern part of our continent.
69.	And here is the third reason for Europeans to regard 1972 as memorable despite certain inevitable disappointments: the conference on security and co-operation in Europe no longer looks like just a grand design. In two months, multilateral preparations for the conference will at last begin in Helsinki. We shall do everything possible to ensure that next year the conference itself will attain its true objective, an objective that is of interest and concern to all the countries represented here: to replace-for this is indeed the issue the confrontation of blocs with dialog between peoples.
70.	It took a thousand years of harsh and turbulent history for Europe to thus arrive at the beginnings of wisdom. The memory of the horrors of two world wars which began there help Europe today better to understand the price of peace and better to uphold the chances for it. The dangers through which democracy has passed in so many European countries, and to which it often succumbed, have put Europe in a better position today to weigh the price of freedom. The grandeur, but also the shadows, of its colonial past enable Europe the better to shun many forms of imperialism. Never has Europe, in its relative equilibrium, seemed better able to defend a certain ideal, which is none other than that of the United Nations: respect for international order and for the independence of each nation, the safeguard of human rights, and the rejection of everything that divides the world into rival hegemonies.
71.	Already many people are turning towards this Europe, which is rediscovering its universal mission, believing in it and expecting a great deal from it. It is time for Europe to realize this; by asserting itself, it is gradually creating its own responsibilities towards the international community. Europe must understand these new duties and not shirk them.
72.	Whatever the economic, political and social problems that face the members of the international community and which are echoed here, Europe must be prepared to make its own response.
73.	We felt this especially strongly at the last UNCTAD meeting in April and May in Santiago, Chile. This meeting was, on the economic level, one of the most keenly awaited events of 1972, and it was held, significantly, in one of the Latin American countries which are so dear to France and which are both strongly marked by European influence and confronted with all the difficulties of profound transformation. Can we not then say that if the Santiago meeting has had positive results it was to the extent that the developing countries found understanding and support from some European nations? But also, that if the results were disappointing it was because this great movement of solidarity is as yet only in its early stages?
74.	Some progress was made at the third session of UNCTAD and it is only fair to mention this. In particular, the significance of the joint conclusions which were reached on the need for complete and whole-hearted participation by the developing countries in trade and monetary negotiations in 1973 was widely appreciated.
75.	In addition, I welcome, for example, the agreement on special measures in favor of the least developed among the developing countries.  The fact remains, however, that on two essential points primary commodities and aid the balance-sheet of UNCTAD did not meet our hopes.
76.	In the first case this lack of success and the meeting could have ended in total failure had the African-sponsored draft resolution on the financing of buffer stocks not been adopted was due to the overly abstract search for new formulas on the subject of outlets and prices. Rather than lingering over this debate on theory, would it not be wiser to examine, case by case, the situation of each commodity which is of particular concern to the developing countries in order to take specific measures to remedy the inadequate revenue which these countries receive from their exports?
77.	In this respect the current United Nations Cocoa Conference will put to the test our determination to arrive at a satisfactory solution. The same is true for aid. Must we really reopen discussion on the objectives decided on by common agreement? Would it not be preferable to concentrate our efforts on the means of attaining them? The real problem is whether we shall follow up our resolutions; in other words, whether our political determination matches our intentions. Underdevelopment is not of concern only to international experts; it is primarily our concern, but statesmen need to have the support of public opinion. UNCTAD, at least, has understood this. It is proposing that we have a world development information day. That resolution  will, I am sure, attract the attention of our Assembly.
78.	The need to make Europe's own voice heard; the difficulty in attaining this; progress-depending on the case-towards political co-operation among our Governments since it, as one of the prerequisites of world equilibrium, works in the interest of all peoples and for peace these are the three conclusions that we are compelled to draw when we look at the strife and disruption going on in the world.
79.	In the Middle East can we discern any reason to hope? I, for my part, see two reasons. The first is related to my dominant theme. We have seen emerging and then growing among members of the European Community a similarity of intentions, which has several times led to concerted action. The second shows to what extent the efforts of the European Community, when it affirms its own identity, coincide with those of the international community. The Secretary-General and his special representative do not allow themselves to be discouraged by stagnation, or by delays, or by apparently unchanging attitudes. Indeed, how could they give in to fatalism? How could we ourselves renounce our responsibilities? Has not the past year shown the futility of efforts undertaken outside the United Nations?
80.	We were guided by two clear and simple ideas from 22 November 1967 until 13 December 1971, two ideas on which a peace agreement may simultaneously be based: the occupied territories must be evacuated subject to minor rectifications; and all the States concerned must undertake to conform, under United Nations guarantees, to the rules which regulate peaceful relations among sovereign States. I should like today to give a new form to the appeal which, for the fourth time, I express from this rostrum with all the moral force that continuity gives my country's policy: does any people or country of the Middle East not understand that for its independence to be definitively ensured it must be sheltered from the interplay of outside scheming or rivalries? To this fundamental question there can only be a definitive and sure answer here, not elsewhere.
81.	Africa, too, needs the United Nations. Last year gave us proof of this. In southern Africa why did a sense of hope, still frail, follow a heightened sense of concern? Because the Africans themselves, gathered in the capital of Ethiopia, induced the Security Council to entrust the Secretary-General with a mission, which was to make contact. May this symbolic opportunity be seized. The stakes are far greater than the question of Namibia alone. If international ethics regains its proper place, and the spirit of the Charter along with it, we will no longer have to condemn, year after year, violations of human rights and of the principle of racial non-discrimination, stressing that they are all equally reprehensible, no matter who is the perpetrator and who the victim.
82.	If international morality and the spirit of the Charter regain their proper place, we will no longer have to deplore the fact that Africa's march towards development and unity is hindered by racial antagonisms, which at times cause much bloodshed without evoking sufficient reproach or horror. This ascent towards unity must continue. France regards it with an active goodwill, which extends to associations that are usefully balanced. But no vision of the future can exempt us from the duties inherited from the past. We intend to assume those duties in two ways: as Europeans and as-Frenchmen. As Europeans, true to the spirit and letter of the two Yaounde Conventions, we regard favorably ties of association between the English- speaking African States and our Community, on the sole but essential condition that the rights gained to date by the African countries, which already have ties of association, are preserved. As Frenchmen we are resolved to continue our efforts at co-operation, even if some aspects have to be changed, on the sole condition that our partners and friends continue to want it themselves.
83.	But Asia? Can it be said that the United Nations does not have a voice it can make heard there, or a specific role to play there? That idea might conceivably have been defended before China was seated here. At our last session we were awaiting its delegation with impatience. I have never better understood to what extent that haste was justified than when I had the privilege in the capital of a great people "older than history", in the words of General de Gaulle of greeting and listening to Chairman Mao Tsetung after long talks with the Head of the Chinese Government and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I had never better understood how essential it was for China to be in our midst, since we want truly to make a patient and sincere effort to establish in Asia a peaceful order based on the reconciliation and coexistence of independent peoples.
84.	For that matter, we are already seeing some necessary dialogs taking place. For its part, Japan, which I have visited since our last session, is contributing to that, and we must thank it. The Koreans are now providing a good example for all of us who believe that, as we have long said, ideological differences can be overcome by peaceful means. That conviction explains why we felt a harsh anomaly in the sudden eruption of the Indian subcontinent. Today we have a twofold duty: to welcome the new State which has just been born and help it to bind up its wounds; then to encourage the warring parties of yesterday to follow to the end the path of reason and reconciliation on which there must be no turning back.
85.	But, above all, will the moment never come when our Organization can put into operation a vast effort of solidarity on behalf of peoples that are victims of the war in Indochina and that are all the more dear to us because they suffer so unjustly? These people of the four States of Indochina want to live in independence in a neutral and peaceful South-East Asia. France knows, of course, from experience how difficult it is to put an end to some conflicts; but I do not hesitate to say that the opportunity to bring to Indochina a peace whose political and military terms can be equally perceived is now at hand. I cannot believe that this opportunity will again be lost. No, I cannot believe that, six years after a certain address delivered in Phnom Penh which history has already proved right-a history which would have been less painful and less bloody if the voice of General de Gaulle had been better heeded.
86.	The survey I have just made leads me to a very natural conclusion: on the one hand, Europe is gradually becoming aware of itself and of the role it must play in serving world equilibrium, and thus peace; on the other hand, the more France realizes that truth, the more she believes that the mission of the United Nations is not only useful but irreplaceable.
87.	Why? We must ask ourselves that question very clearly, for the world has changed to such a degree since the birth of the Organization that it would be a mistake to be satisfied with the old justifications applicable to a time gone by, which preceded the entry into this Organization of most of the States represented here. I shall give my answer immediately: the respective tasks of the European Community and of the United Nations are indeed very different. The Community is an economic power par excellence whose political goals are based on its service to a certain type of civilization. The United Nations is essentially a moral force which cannot have a secular arm because its raison d'etre is to assemble, for the purpose of maintaining or restoring peace, governments representative of all systems, all doctrines, all regimes. But both have one essential thing in common: they tend to prevent the division of the world between two decision-making centers. Understand me well: the rejection of hegemonies, far from creating distrust or hostility towards the very great Powers, is the very prerequisite for a genuine and fruitful dialog. The same President of the French Republic who in a few weeks' time hopes to receive nine Heads of Government received Mr. Leonid Brezhnev in Paris and met with Mr. Nixon in the Azores. With Mr. Brezhnev, Mr. Pompidou signed the declaration of 13 principles which makes Franco-Soviet co-operation exemplary and, as the President of the Republic has just said again, gives it capital importance. With Mr. Nixon he discussed the continuance of a friendship as old as the United States itself and ever strengthened by mutual frankness.
88.	The more relations improve between two very great Powers with which we maintain ties of co-operation or alliance, the more we gain, if peace gains therefrom. But, surely, no country among us, even the least powerful, intends to give up the right to choose and to guide its destiny itself.
89.	For that right to be preserved it must be kept from slipping almost from sight, as would happen if left to a natural course of events. That is why so many Mediterranean countries and I am thinking especially of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which are so close to us are showing such concern to have continuous dialog with Europe, in a form still to be determined. The motives that prompt them to look towards Europe are, on the whole, the same as those which justify their attachment to the principles of the Charter.
90.	Such is the spirit in which we propose to participate in the major debates here, in particular those which concern the problems of over-armament and underdevelopment which, for that matter, are connected. But I intend to conclude on the essential thing, which is also the most threatened and challenged. I am aware that I speak on behalf of a country which has certainly not been irreproachable in the course of its lengthy history but which, nearly two centuries ago, proclaimed not the rights of Frenchmen but the rights of man.
91.	I mentioned a moment ago that one of the essential tasks of our Organization was to condemn racial discrimination in all its forms and to combat it by the most effective means, that is to say, means consistent with the principles of our Charter. In the same spirit, the French Government last year deposited the instruments of accession to the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination [resolution 2106 A (XX), annex] and this year submitted to parliament a law, which was unanimously adopted, on the elimination of all expressions of racism.
92.	France is participating actively, as members know, in the convention work of the United Nations on human rights. We have, in addition, been initiators in the work in which our Organization is currently engaged to draft an international instrument for the protection of journalists on perilous missions. We cannot be indifferent to the fate of those who, in their search for objectivity, sometimes knowingly placing their lives in danger and make an essential contribution to the knowledge of the modern world and to the emancipation of peoples. Often we feel, as I have said, the need for an appeal to public opinion, which alone can jolt people out of their apathy and hasten a solution to the most serious political crises. Is it impossible to hope that increased protection will be given to those who serve the public and serve truth? We hope that this year the Assembly will be sympathetic to our efforts.
93.	At its last session the General Assembly unanimously decided, in resolution 2860 (XXVI), that a Human Rights Day should be celebrated on 10 December 1973 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
94.	It was in Paris that the Declaration was proclaimed on 10 December 1948, and France, true to its long tradition, intends solemnly to celebrate this anniversary.
95.	Assuredly, before the immensity of the problems that face the world and the urgency of certain decisions, this celebration will have mainly symbolic value, but the world of today has more need than ever of symbols-symbols strong enough to avenge justice and to comfort brotherhood.


Mr. President, I should like to join those who have preceded me on this podium and to express to you the satisfaction of my delegation on your election to the presidency of this historic session of the General Assembly. Your personal wisdom and experience, as well as the noble traditions of your country, Poland, assure us that the work of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly will proceed with the least delay and have a fruitful outcome. The Pakistan delegation assures you of its full and active co-operation in the fulfillment of your responsibilities.
133.	I should also like to take this opportunity to convey, on behalf of my delegation and my Government, our admiration for the exemplary and able manner in which your predecessor, Mr. Adam Malik of Indonesia, guided the eventful proceedings of the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
134.	My delegation whole-heartedly shares the sentiments of satisfaction expressed by so many delegations that in Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim we have an able and worthy successor to UThant. Our Secretary-General's efforts to seek solutions to seemingly intractable problems have been relentless; his energy is unbounded; and his manner is forthright and conscientious. His qualities augur well for the fulfillment of the aspiration of the majority of Member States that the United Nations should play a more active role in securing justice and peace in our world.
135.	The last session of the General Assembly closed with the clash of arms still resounding in these halls. No less than the conflict itself, its consequences pose a challenge to the United Nations. Though recent developments have set a trend towards detente and negotiation in international relations, it can hardly be said that this process has assumed global proportions or that the process, though reducing tension in one arena of the world, has not transferred it to another. Nevertheless, no one, whatever his political and ideological affiliations, can belittle the beneficent prospects for world peace opened by the summit meetings between the United States and China and between the United States and the Soviet Union, thanks to the statesmanship, sense of history and initiatives of President Nixon. My delegation would also like to express its profound satisfaction that the recent visit of Prime Minister Tanaka has resulted in the termination of the era of conflict between Japan and China and the resumption of the traditional friendship and co-operation between those two great Asian nations. This accord will provide a new impetus for peace in Asia, the Far East and in the world.
136.	Elsewhere as well, former disputants have found it possible to initiate a discussion of their differences. The delegation of Pakistan expresses the sincere hope that the negotiations between East and West Germany and between North ,and South Korea will lead to a normalization of their relations on the basis of equity and the aspirations of their peoples.
137.	There is no reason why such negotiations and dialogs cannot result in a just settlement of the war in Viet-Nam. A whole generation in IndoChina has endured the agony of continuing war. It has long been clear that the situation is not susceptible of a military solution. The principle must be recognized that this conflict, as others, can be resolved only in accordance with the right of self-determination of the peoples of IndoChina, who must be assured of the realization of the goals and objectives of the Geneva Agreements on the Cessation of Hostilities in IndoChina.  It is entirely just that the heroic and invincible people of Viet-Nam, who have made such unparalleled sacrifices for national liberation, should insist on the assurance that what they have suffered and endured for over a generation has not been in vain.
138.	The present climate of discussion and accommodation should be seized upon to promote a process of reconciliation among all Powers. It would be tragic if the current trends are not brought to bear on the resolution of outstanding disputes, for the persistence of a dispute over a period of time renders its solution the more difficult. The history of India-Pakistan relations is an example of this phenomenon.
139.	The new Government of Pakistan has approached all the complex historical and political issues underlying and arising from the recent conflict on the subcontinent with political realism. We are anxious that prejudices and preconceptions of the past, and the memory of suffering, should not form an obstacle to peace. The President of Pakistan has demonstrated his resolve to bring about a change from the path of confrontation to that of conciliation. The Simla Agreement of 3 July last, between India and Pakistan, accepts the principle of non-use of force and of settlement of disputes by peaceful means. It provides for the withdrawal of forces from each other's territories and envisages a step-by-step approach for the settlement of the remaining problems.
140.	It is our determination and hope that that Agreement will open a new chapter in our relations with India, leading to the resolution of all our outstanding problems. It is important in this context that the troop withdrawals should take place forthwith. These were to have been completed within 30 days of the ratification of the Agreement and have already been twice delayed. The view that these withdrawals are in any manner conditional on the prior delineation of the line of control in Kashmir is not warranted by the letter and spirit of the Simla Agreement.
141.	The Simla Agreement also looks forward to a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Pending that settlement the two countries are to respect the line of control resulting from the cease-fire of 17 December 1971, without prejudice to the recognized position of either side. Our position in this regard is well known. It has remained unchanged ever since the resolutions of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan were adopted 24 years ago and India and Pakistan agreed that the future of Jammu and Kashmir should be decided by the people of the state through a plebiscite. The right of self-determination is saAosanct. It is inalienable. The future of Kashmir can be decided only by the people of Kashmir. The will of the people of Kashmir is the objective reality.
142.	We believe that the basis of our future relations with our former eastern province, which is now called "Bangladesh", should also be established through dialog and discussion in accordance with the wishes of our people. We bear our brothers there no ill will. This has been demonstrated by the unconditional release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The President of Pakistan, Mr. Bhutto, has taken other initiatives to facilitate the resolution of the host of problems that have arisen in the wake of the tragic events .of 1971. We find it difficult to understand the precondition which is now imposed that Pakistan must recognize "Bangladesh" before the resolution of our problems can be initiated.
143.	The recognition of "Bangladesh" is different for Pakistan than for other States, It bears upon an important principle. We cannot ignore the fact that the territory which now proclaims itself as "Bangladesh" was an integral part of Pakistan, and that it was sundered from Pakistan by the use of armed force. The events of last year have already eroded the principle of the territorial integrity of States, enshrined in the Charter. There is no doubt a new reality in the subcontinent. But if this precedent is not to imperil the security and integrity of all multinational or multilingual States, it is important that its legitimacy be consecrated, not through Pakistan's coerced recognition of its existence, but through a freely negotiated and just settlement of the issues which interpose serious obstacles to the recognition of "Bangladesh" and its admission to the United Nations.
144.	It is unreasonable to expect Pakistan to support the admission of "Bangladesh" to the United Nations while the two resolutions of the United Nations remain unimplemented. Both General Assembly resolution 2793 (XXVI) and Security Council resolution 307 (1971) called upon the parties to preserve human life.
145.	In its resolution 307(1971) of 21 December 1971, the Security Council called upon "all those concerned" to observe in full the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1949 relating to the wounded and sick, prisoners of war and the civilian population. Resolution 307 (1971) is of a mandatory nature, having been adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter, and applies not only to India and Pakistan, but also to the Dacca authorities, who had assumed the powers of government and administration by that time. The third Geneva Convention of 1949, relating to prisoners of war,  enjoins the detaining Power under article 118, to release and repatriate all prisoners of war immediately on the cessation of active hostilities. The text of the Convention, as wall as the authoritative commentaries on it, leave no room for doubt or ambiguity on this point. The obligation is unequivocal, unilateral and unconditional. This position has been most recently reiterated by the Conference of Governmental Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, which met in Geneva earlier this year under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC].
146.	Yet, almost 10 months after the cessation of hostilities, over 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war and civilian detainees, including women and children, continue to be held captive in Indian camps. The ICRC, as well as the International Commission of Jurists, has expressed concern over the continuing delay in the release of the prisoners of war.
147.	The treatment of our personnel in captivity is also cause for serious concern. Apart from complaints about insult, provocation and harassment, force has been used against the prisoners on several occasions. A few months back more than a dozen Pakistani soldiers were shot and killed at the Ranchi camp. Last week another 8 were killed and 25 wounded. It is obvious that this latest incident, like the previous one, has occurred because India continues to hold our prisoners of war in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
148.	The position that the released and repatriation of our prisoners of war requires the agreement of "Bangladesh" is not supported by the Geneva Conventions. On the other hand, the Dacca authorities refuse even to discuss this question until we recognize "Bangladesh". In this manner our prisoners of war are sought to be used as pawns for securing political concessions from Pakistan, in violation of all legal and moral principles. The Dacca authorities have unnecessarily assumed the responsibility for obstructing the repatriation of our prisoners of war because we are quite prepared to reach an honorable settlement with them.
149.	By obstructing the repatriation of our prisoners of war as well as by failing to take all measures to preserve human life, "Bangladesh" continues to violate its international obligations, including those flowing from Security Council resolution 307 (1971). That resolution creates, by virtue of Article 25 and Article 2, paragraph 6, of the Charter, mandatory obligations for all concerned, including "Bangladesh". It follows, therefore, that fulfillment of the obligation under that resolution is a test of the ability and willingness of the applicant State to carry out its obligations under the Charter, which is one of the qualifications prescribed in Article 4 of the Charter for entry of new members to the United Nations.
150.	I should like to express, from this rostrum, our gratification at the just and principled position of the People's Republic of China in defense of the decisions of this Organization and the interest of peace and justice in the South Asian subcontinent. The Security Council was unable to make a favorable recommendation on the application of "Bangladesh" because certain States seemed more anxious to force China to use its veto than to facilitate the entry of "Bangladesh" into our Organization. One cannot but suspect that the precipitate and imprudent attempt to agitate the matter here in the General Assembly is not devoid of similar motives. Unless the Assembly addresses itself to the unresolved problems organically inseparable from admission, its consideration of this question cannot advance the possibility of the admission of "Bangladesh" to the United Nations. My delegation calls upon all Member States, irrespective of the status of their bilateral relations with "Bangladesh", to facilitate, during this debate, the fulfillment of the objective that must remain uppermost, namely, the establishment of a just and durable peace in the subcontinent.
151.	We believe that the effectiveness and, indeed, the future of the United Nations will depend upon its ability to promote not merely peace, but justice and a just peace. It is on the distinction between justice and injustice that we must base our efforts to improve the United Nations machinery for maintaining international peace and security. That this distinction is of fundamental importance is inherent in the Charter. For example, the Charter recognizes the legitimacy of wars of self-defense while outlawing wars of aggression and expansion. This distinction, between justice and injustice, which, unfortunately, is too often overlooked, is contained in Article 2 paragraph 3 of the Charter, which enjoins all Member States to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner "that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered".
152.	The delegation of Pakistan favors a serious and constructive review of the Charter in order to explore avenues through which to establish a more effective system of international security. Such a system must obviously not ignore the disparity of power between States. On the other hand, the permanent members of the Security Council should be prepared to render more than lip service to the purposes and principles of the Organization and to demonstrate their determination to insist on the implementation of its mandatory resolutions. That at least one permanent member takes its obligation in this respect seriously is a source of encouragement and hope.
153.	There is a need for such determination in seeking a just solution to the problems of southern Africa. In that region, Portugal continues its oppressive rule over its colonial territories; the illegal racist regime of Ian Smith is firmly entrenched in Southern Rhodesia; in Namibia, despite the energetic efforts of the Secretary-General, there is no sign of progress towards the goal of independence. The policy of apartheid is not only becoming daily more oppressive in South Africa, it is progressively being extended in various forms to Namibia, Southern Rhodesia and the Portuguese colonial territories. This situation exists because some of the major Powers derive profit in its maintenance and for that reason they prevent any initiative for decisive action by the Security Council. They seem oblivious to the fact that unless the injustice and inhumanity in southern Africa are eliminated, the whole area may soon erupt in a bloody race conflict.
154.	Injustice remain to be redressed in the Middle East as well. The Security Council has been unable to secure the implementation of its resolution 242 (1967), much less to devise a solution to the underlying causes of the conflict. The victor of the six-day war continues to be in forcible occupation of conquered Arab lands, including Jerusalem, and, despite the odium of the international community, persists in violating at will the territories of its neighbors. Yet, Israel demands the annexation of the occupied Arab territories in order to maintain "secure frontiers". Both the impunity with which it is able to carry out its aggressive incursions against its Arab neighbors, as well as the revelations of recent months, indicate that it is not Israel, but the Arab countries bordering it, whose security and territorial integrity is in serious jeopardy. Those Member States which have the greatest power and influence in the area and which have failed to deploy them fully in the interests of a just settlement based on the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, owe a great responsibility to the international community and to history for their default.
155.	A final solution of the problem of the Middle East will have to be based on justice. The 1967 conflict was but the effect of a cause: the ruthless and unjust displacement of the people of Palestine. Those who seek to maintain the status quo in the Middle East, as well as those who acquiesce in its maintenance, would be well advised to' remember that no structure of peace will endure if it ignores the hunger for justice which drives the Arab people, and in particular the people of Palestine.
156.	An inescapable part of our endeavor to establish a durable system of international security is the effort to control and ultimately eliminate the destructive potential of nuclear and conventional armaments. Pakistan attaches the highest priority to both bilateral and multilateral efforts for disarmament. We have participated actively in the negotiations in the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament and acknowledge the earnest efforts of its members to bring about agreement on the elimination of chemical weapons. We hope that by next year the members would be able to present the world with such an achievement.
157.	However, it cannot be denied that hitherto the concrete results of both the bilateral and multilateral negotiations have been meager. The issues with which we have been mainly concerned are not measures for disarmament, but for non-armament. Their most tangible outcome has been the establishment of an uneasy equilibrium between the two super-Powers.
158.	It is time that a beginning was made towards genuine disarmament. My delegation supports in principle the convening of a world disarmament conference at the appropriate time. The conference must so devise its agenda as to secure the participation of all nuclear Powers in its deliberations. To make such participation possible, we need to do more than to establish another forum or to make changes in the existing machinery of negotiations. It is only by concrete and substantial reductions of nuclear and sophisticated weapons that Powers with overwhelming nuclear and other capability will be able to establish their credibility in disarmament negotiations. An important step towards building mutual confidence would be an undertaking not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.
159.	This is not to say that the first strategic arms limitation agreement is not of high significance or that it is not a step which breaks new ground. It is both. At the same time, we cannot but share the anxiety voiced by so many delegations that while quantitative limits have been placed on the build-up of weapons of mass destruction, the nuclear arms race remains unchecked, in fact intensified, in the field of their qualitative development.
160.	The self-defeating nature of this approach and the absence of any possibility of reducing the disparities among the nuclear Powers cannot but exercise a negative influence on any efforts to make the disarmament negotiations all-inclusive. The disparities must first be reduced before universal participation will come to be regarded as compatible with the supreme national interest and security of those nuclear Powers which find the offers to include them uninviting.
161.	There is an urgent need to rectify the current inequity in the distribution of the world's wealth among and within nations. The evolution in our understanding of the issues of poverty and development has indicated that traditional strategies of growth which largely ignore the imperative of distributive justice will not suffice to eradicate inequality, mass poverty and unemployment in the developing countries. The Government of Pakistan has initiated comprehensive economic and social reforms in order to create a framework in which our concern for greater production is complementary to the need for a better distribution of its benefits; and the generation of economic growth and employment is being treated as a primary instead of a secondary objective. These reforms cover a fairly wide spectrum, including land reforms, reforms in the banking and corporate structure, a nationwide integrated rural works and housing program, and fundamental changes in our system of education and health.
162.	The success of strategies designed to secure social justice and generate greater employment in the poor nations can be facilitated by the active co-operation and contribution of the affluent world. Such co-operation is in the common interest of all countries. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held at Stockholm in June, the third session of the United . Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held in Santiago in April and May, and the efforts being exerted to reform the international monetary system, have all underlined the global interdependencies of the issues of ecology, trade, aid and development. They have indicated the importance of rectifying all imbalances affecting man, whether they result from an excessive and reckless consumption of the world's resources or from inadequate consumption, poverty and hunger.
163.	At Stockholm, where the most immediate concerns were those of the developed countries, the poor nations exhibited an acute awareness of the unity and interdependence of the world. At Santiago, however, on issues of equal if not greater importance for the developing countries, the same sympathy and understanding was not apparent in the attitudes of the developed countries. There can be no double standards in this world. If the developing countries are being called upon to assume responsibilities for preserving the delicate balance of ecology, they cannot at the same time be denied their rightful share of the world's wealth.
164.	For 25 years in this Organization Pakistan's expressions and actions have been inspired by the desire to secure peace and justice in international relations. On innumerable occasions we have incurred the wrath of mighty Powers for cur forthright stand in support of the principles and purposes of the Charter. But in placing its trust in this Organization Pakistan always hoped that its collective strength and moral influence would in time of peril be steadfastly exerted against any threat to our security, sovereignty and territorial integrity.. The United Nations, however, proved helpless in the face of the armed aggression against our country. Yet we continue to hope that a sense of justice will induce the membership of the United Nations at least to contribute constructively to the elimination of the consequences of the use of force against a fellow Member State.
165.	As for our brothers who are today separated from us in what is now called "Bangladesh", we wish them nothing but peace and prosperity and expect of them a similar understanding and sympathy, which we are sure will prevail, in the resolution of our outstanding problems on the basis of justice, equity and the aspirations of our people.


Mr. President, may I be permitted first to express to you the warm congratulations of my delegation on your brilliant election to the presidency of the twenty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. These congratulations go equally to all the other members of the General Committee.
2.	This tribute, which is paid to your country through you as evidence of its attachment to the ideals of the United Nations Charter, is a matter of gratification to us particularly since our two peoples and Governments maintain extremely friendly relations.
3.	We are convinced from the very outset that, through your distinguished qualities and your great experience in international life, the work of the present session will be conducted with wisdom and skill.
4.	Furthermore, I should like to take advantage of this pleasant occasion to thank very sincerely the outgoing President, Mr. Adam Malik, who conducted so well the work of the last session.
5.	Our acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations implies for all our States an obligation of loyalty to its principles and its ideals. Consequently, it is our duty to join our efforts in order to bring about a world of peace and justice in which the negative forces of hatred and domination will give way to those of understanding and comprehension among peoples, based on the respect of our individual characteristics.
6.	Last year I had an opportunity to dwell on certain of the positive aspects of our joint action. However, at the same time, I had occasion to speak out against the persistence of colonialism, the principle of settling conflicts by sheer armed force and the organization of human society on the basis of racial or religious differences. At that time I also deplored the reluctance shown by the international community to meet the elementary needs of the majority of the world's population.
7.	If we wish to respond to the profound aspirations of our peoples, we must promptly eliminate from our practices those principles which run counter to international ethics and at the same time we must strengthen the universal nature of our Organization.
8.	Undoubtedly history will remember the political courage with which we have honored the Charter and thus put an end to the conflict caused in our consciences by restoring the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. Encouraged by that victory, the international Organization will justly be able to create other opportunities for redress of this sort so that in coming years the voice of all peoples can be heard in this hall in the same fraternal spirit.
9.	The opening of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly is marked by a series of noteworthy events.
10.	Europe which, twice in less than a generation, has seen the outbreak of conflagrations which have sorely tried humanity, is preparing for a conference on its security and economic integration. The Treaty on Questions relating to Surface Transport, which was concluded between the two Germanys, on 25 May 1972, in our view constitutes an encouraging sign of a reconciliation between those two States. The ratification by the Bundestag, on 17 May 1972, of the Treaties concluded firstly between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union and, secondly, between the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland, leads us to believe that the desire to work for peace and international security has definitely triumphed over mistrust and suspicion.
11.	Undoubtedly, the threat of what philosophers have called our "cosmic suicide" still exists. Our horizon is not yet totally free of the atomic clouds which have darkened it since the end of the Second World War. Although it is unreasonable to draw any final conclusion about arrangements whose nature is not yet known to us entirely, we would note, as an important contribution to detente, the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures with respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, which was concluded at Moscow on 26 May 1972 between the Government of the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The arms race has not stopped nor has it slackened either in the Soviet Union or the United States. These agreements, however, serve as an example; and unless there is a misconception as to the role which each of these States must play in the harmonious evolution of international relations, they will have opened up the way to other forms of agreement and to the possibility of using atomic power for the benefit of mankind.
12.	Our constant concern to abide by the noble ideals of the Charter and to preserve mankind from the scourge of war has led us during the past session to adopt the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction [see resolution 2826 (XXVI), annex], which 169 States signed on 10 April 1972 in Moscow, London and Washington.
13.	This series of important events proves that a minimum of political far-sightedness can lead to results which bring us closer to the ideals of the Charter, to which, as I said, we have all freely subscribed. We need only refer to the holding of meetings of the Security Council in Africa and the important decisions taken by the ninth ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Africa Unity [OAU], held at Rabat in February 1972, and the last Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Georgetown. Guyana, in August 1972.
14.	The improvement of international relations, which is the bounden duty of each of our States, is one of the major concerns of the present day world. The division of the world into two antagonistic blocs seems to be giving way to a certain multi-polarity, which may lead us progressively to democratize relations among States. Unfortunately, this encouraging turn of events has been marred by reactions which have been dictated either by false concepts of national honor or by philosophies and policies that are backward and dangerous because they attack the fundamental values of human civilization.
15.	This explains why the Government of the Republic of Mali was indignant at the deterioration of the situation in the Indochina peninsula; why we refuse to sanction the law of the force of arms in the settlement of disputes among States; and, finally, why we shall never compromise with colonialist and racist regimes.
16.	We had sincerely believed that political wisdom would have prompted us to consider realistically the heroic struggle of the people of South Viet-Nam for its genuine independence and for the enjoyment of the rights attached to the sovereignty of a people which continues to confront the forces of imperialist aggression by a united will and resistance never before equaled. This people more than any other knows the price of peace because it has long suffered from unjust wars, and the seven-point proposals of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet-Nam illustrate this will to build a just and peaceful society in a world free of bombs, napalm and defoliants. The Government of the Republic of Mali cannot tolerate the idea that such proposals have been responded to by actions of systematic destruction of South Vietnam, by the intensification of indiscriminate bombings of the economic infrastructure of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, and by attempts to strangle this country by mining, against all legal norms, its ports and its territorial waters.
17.	The courage of a people which is resolutely struggling for its freedom is only equaled by its wisdom. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet-Nam has demonstrated this once again by its declaration of 11 September 1972, proposing the creation of a tripartite provisional government of national reconciliation, representing the political, administrative and military reality of the country.
18.	It cannot be over-emphasized that it is up to the Vietnamese people, and up to that people alone, to choose the political, economic and social framework in which it intends to live. All countries which love peace and justice must help that people to achieve unity so that reason may prevail over brute force,
19.	We are witnessing on the same Asian continent a positive turn in the Korean situation. The Koreans, mindful of their national identity and their common destiny, have begun, in accordance with their Joint Communique of 4 July 1972 [A/8727, annex I] on the reunification of their country, talks for whose success the international community must give its full assistance. Our Organization, which has been illegally involved in the war of aggression of which the Korean people is the victim, must bring to bear all its political and moral force to achieve the peaceful unification of this country. The Koreans have taken a significant step towards the solution of their internal crisis. Let us not delay events by continuing to impose upon them the presence of military forces which use our emblem for purposes of prestige and hegemony. That is precisely why my delegation regrets the postponement of the discussion of the Korean question to the twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly.
20.	The device by means of which certain States have deferred from year to year the examination of this agenda item deceives no one. However, we dare to hope that our worthy Assembly has not been fooled by this and will not follow them in their fraud. It must take the opportunity offered by the device begun between the two parties to speed up, by concrete actions, the process leading to the solution of this unfortunate crisis, which for more than 20 years has tried the heroic Korean people. The three-point proposal of Marshal Kim II Sung, the well-loved and respected leader of revolutionary Korea, at least opens up the way to this.
21.	Peace is therefore within reach in Korea. In order to safeguard it, it would be sufficient for us to help the parties to accelerate the process of peaceful reunification which is going on. We, for our part, remain convinced that our Organization will no longer shirk its responsibilities in Korea.
22.	The continuing improvement in international relations means that no provision of the Charter may be violated with impunity. Hesitations, delays in taking decisions and tongue in cheek commitments at the time they are implemented have created areas of extreme tension in the world. The Middle East gives us a disturbing example of this. The announcement by the Secretary-General on 10 July that the Jarring mission had been resumed created a certain optimism, which the latest Israeli raids against Lebanon and Syria soon dispelled. Only the full application of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) can lead to a just and lasting peace in this sorely tried region of the world. The elimination of Israeli aggression against the Arab peoples and of its consequences demands firm and energetic action by the international community. Our Organization cannot leave in frustration those thousands of Palestinians, who, like everyone else, are entitled to live in their own home and to participate fully in the political, economic, social and cultural evolution of their homeland. Israel, which continues to block the process of the settlement of the crisis, must understand that the United Nations, which it challenges with such arrogance, cannot indefinitely remain indifferent to the illegal occupation by Israeli troops of the Arab territories of Golan, Sinai, Gaza and Trans- Jordan, which it has practically annexed. We should like to assure our Arab brothers of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon, the Kingdom of Jordan and Palestine of our total solidarity in the struggle they are waging with such determination to defend the territorial integrity of their homeland and to affirm their national identity.
23.	The struggle against the injustices characteristic of our society is a global one. It has no limitation in time or in space. Those political leaders who would be satisfied with maintaining a balance while bombs and napalm are churning up and burning the lands of Asia, the Middle East and Africa, have understood nothing about the aims and the objectives of the Charter. Putting an end to colonization is one of these priority objectives. If we refer to the introduction to the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, we read:
"The full and complete implementation of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) on decolonization remains a major goal of the United Nations." [A/8701/ Add.l, p. 4.]
24.	In the opinion of the delegation of Mali, there will be no independence or freedom in Africa as long as the peoples of Guinea (Bissau), Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Rhodesia and South Africa remain under colonialist and racist domination.
25.	With reference to the hysterical Portuguese colonialism, Mario Soares has aptly written in his work Le Portugal baillonne:
"In fact, the only specific feature of Portuguese colonialism in comparison with other European colonialisms derives essentially from the financial and mental poverty of the settlers and the economic underdevelopment of the metropolitan country, which itself is a colony of the great Powers."
26.	The Portuguese Government is not competent to teach freedom and the values of any civilization whatsoever; for otherwise, it would have applied those principles to Portugal itself. Africa is not deceived about the true intentions of the Powers members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] which provide it with weapons.
27.	The report of the United Nations Special Mission of inquiry which was sent to Guinea (Bissau) [A/8723/Rev.l, chap. X, annex I] has enlightened the world as to the scope of the barbarous acts carried out by the Portuguese colonial army. This session of the General Assembly should focus its full attention on two aspects of the questions raised in that document. First, it should be noted that vast areas of the territory have been liberated and that the victory of the freedom fighters over the Portuguese army is irreversible. Secondly, we must determine the specific nature of the help to be given to the people of Guinea (Bissau), which should be both political and material.
28.	The illegal regime of Ian Smith and the racists of Pretoria are warring openly against the international community. The Salisbury rebels have drawn closer to Portugal and to South Africa in order better to inculcate racial hatred and methods of repression.
29.	However, despite the threats, the brutalities, the imprisonments and the assassinations perpetrated by the illegal regime of Ian Smith, the overwhelming majority of the Rhodesian population has pronounced itself against the Home-Smith agreements,  which were only intended to formalize the domination of the white racists in Zimbabwe.
30.	The United Nations, for its part, guided by the principles of the Charter and specifically by the provisions of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), should henceforth direct its action in Rhodesia in the light of the most recent proposals made by the African National Congress, namely, the convening of a constitutional conference on the political future of the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. That is the only initiative which can possibly put an end to the chain of violence in which the Rhodesian rebels wish to involve the country, in order to dominate it further.
31.	The responsibility of Great Britain, as administering Power in the Rhodesian question, remains unimpaired.
32.	We are not unaware of the fact that the moral, political, economic and military assistance which certain Powers give to the Portuguese colonialists, to the rebels in Rhodesia and to the racist Government of South Africa is utilized to put down the nationalists and to strengthen white power in southern Africa. Is it not with the weapons which are provided under these alliances that the Government of South Africa has brutally repressed the demonstrations by theologians and university students directed against the odious regime of apartheid? NATO, of which South Africa is a vassal, has thus become a system of aggression against Africa. We need only refer to the belligerent statements of the Government of Pretoria and to recall its attacks against Zambia and the United Republic of
Tanzania and its pacts with the Government of Portugal and the illegal regime of Southern Rhodesia to be convinced of this.
33.	Not content with oppressing and humiliating the Colored people in South Africa, the Pretoria Regime has extended the abscess of apartheid to Namibia, which it continues to occupy despite the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.  This illegal occupation, which is an insulting challenge to our Organization, is the fruit of the plan for hegemony which has always been nurtured by that retrograde regime.
34.	The impotence of the United Nations in the face of the arrogance of those who preach apartheid is inadmissible. It must act promptly to see to it that the sacred right of the Namibian people to self-determination is upheld. In this way it will shoulder its responsibilities towards the international community.
35.	The lack of co-operation of certain major Powers in the implementation of United Nations decisions against the white racists of southern Africa is not such as to make our task easier.
36.	The coalition of the racists and of those who support colonialism must be met by a permanent aggressive front consisting of those who believe in the value of human dignity and who refuse to let the world be pushed to the brink of the abyss.
37.	The recognition of the legitimacy of the struggle against colonialism so often proclaimed by our Organization should finally cease to be a mere declaration of intention and should become a fact.
38.	The Assembly of Heads of State and Government held by the OAU, which unanimously decided at Rabat to double the budget for liberation movements, wished thus to show what could be done to quench the murderous flame which Portugal has lit in southern Africa and which it continues to fan in collusion with the racists of South Africa and Rhodesia.
39.	The Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned Countries, which met in Georgetown, after having stressed the indivisibility of peace, adopted a position on the question of giving assistance to liberation movements, which, we are convinced, will have a certain impact on the United Nations.
40.	The year 1972 undoubtedly has been rich in events which might be attributed to our Organization, whose purpose it is to bring men and peoples closer together.
41.	In point of fact, the great nuclear Powers have for some time now demonstrated a certain desire, if not to put an end to the arms race, at least to hold it in check. But the progress achieved in the limitation of nuclear arms would be completely pointless if it were not followed up by general disarmament measures.
42.	The objectives set for the Disarmament Decade are far from being achieved, and we can only note with some disquiet the observation of the Secretary-General:
"Neither has the arms race been halted nor perceptibly slowed down. In fact, the armaments race has spiraled to a level higher than ever before." [A/8701/Add.l, p. 3.]
43.	International security, we have stated, is indivisible. Disarmament concerns us all, and it is regrettable to note that the composition of the United Nations committee entrusted with this matter does not take into account the evolution of the forces prevailing in the world.
44.	Furthermore, the present formula of co-chairmanship of that body should be replaced by a more democratic formula which would fully involve all its members in the responsibility for its work. Today more than ever the need for a world disarmament conference is being felt. In order for such a conference to achieve any results, it must be carefully prepared by inviting all States to it.
45.	The present trend marked by the frenzied arms race should be reversed so that the astronomical sums absorbed by arsenals can be released and devoted to the economic, social and cultural progress of man. It is the welfare and stability of the world which are at stake.
46.	The democratization of international relations affects the future of the world as a whole. It applies both to the political as well as to the economic areas. In the particular case of trade, it may well open the way to undreamed-of possibilities of co-operation for the well-being of our peoples.
47.	Unfortunately, neither the discussions in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT], nor in the first and second sessions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], held in Geneva and New Delhi respectively, have led to any concrete measures to improve relations between the industrialized Powers and the developing countries.
48.	The third session of UNCTAD, which- was held in Santiago, Chile, in April and May of 1972, has brutally revealed this fact to the world. The results of the work were so far below expectations that Mr. Tibor Mende, referring to the reluctance of the rich countries to contribute to the solution of the problem of under-development, wrote recently: "Henceforth it is less a question of resolving the problem than of learning to live with it."
49.	Despite the resolutions adopted by the international community to overcome under-development, it is still true that the combined gross national product of the developing countries, which is on the order of $700,000 million, continues to decline whereas that of the industrialized countries, estimated at $2 million million, is progressing by approximately $100,000 million per year.
50.	The net earnings of international trade could have reduced this unfortunate trend towards the excessive impoverishment of the technically backward countries; but, unfortunately, here also they are hampered by the continuing deterioration of the terms of trade. Their immense mining resources are thus outrageously exploited by the industrialized countries solely to, benefit international capitalism. Therefore it is imperative to prepare a code for international trade relations which would ensure that we could manage our own resources as we saw fit.
51.	The first efforts of the countries of the third world, therefore, should be directed at the exploitation of our mining resources and potentialities in order first and foremost to serve our populations. This implies necessarily that our sovereignty should be effectively exercised over our natural wealth.
52.	The assistance of the industrialized countries to the developing countries, which was far from achieving percentage-wise the figure recommended by the various resolutions of our Organization, is still tending to decline while the conditions for repayment of debts are set very strictly. This has reached such a point that the developing countries are now faced with a situation of indebtedness which does not allow them any possibility for development.
53.	The negative effects of these facts on our economies are further aggravated by monetary tensions; and, as if it had not been sufficiently proved that establishing an international order would require the co-operation of everyone, solutions to monetary crises are at present being sought without the effective participation of the developing countries. International monetary reform can be viable only if it is established on the basis of a world indicative plan in accordance with General Assembly resolution 2218 (XXI) on the first United Nations Development Decade.
54.	The solutions which have been advocated within the context of the Second United Nations Development Decade will have little effect if there is no political will, without which no planning is feasible.
55.	The over-all analyses made of the economies of the developing countries, unfortunately, do not enable world public opinion to grasp the serious human realities and social problems of the countries which are considered among the least developed of the low-income countries. The models which were generally put forward to stimulate the economic growth of the developing countries do not take into account the specific nature and the tremendous scope of their needs.
56.	Over and above the reinforcement and intensification of the measures already taken for their benefit, the international community should hold free and open discussions with these countries in order to establish precise programs which would make possible the attainment of the goals set in the various resolutions and recommendations.
57.	I should like now to take up a very timely question which the General Assembly, acting on the initiative of the Secretary-General of our Organization, has decided to examine. Some have already stated that this question will constitute the central focus of our discussions. Undoubtedly it cannot be denied that this is an important issue which is of concern to all mankind, but let us not forget that it is, above all, a particularly complex question, with multiple ramifications, whose examination should, therefore, be taken up in a spirit of absolute serenity and great objectivity.
58.	We should like to put stress on this final wording of the title of the item and thus on the need to study first and foremost the underlying diverse causes of this phenomenon before trying to determine at all costs measures to eliminate it.
59.	No one can approve of violence, wherever it may be practiced, particularly if when it is unleashed it endangers or even takes innocent human lives, but it must be realized that we will oppose any attempt thus to jeopardize by this means the actions undertaken by various liberation movements, whether in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East or elsewhere.
60.	Those are the few comments my delegation wished to make about the international situation. We have no doubt that we share these views with most of the delegations present here, which are themselves concerned over the deterioration of the internal relations of contemporary society in the political, economic, social and cultural areas. In point of fact, man, after having revolted against the injustices continuously inflicted on him, has assumed the role of judge. This explains the recrudescence of violence which characterizes the world and the resultant climate of total insecurity facing mankind. Hence for us it is much more a matter of seeking to remedy this state of affairs than of condemning or stigmatizing the phenomenon, which is simply growing because iniquities continue to exist.
61.	We realize today that the world is so interdependent that no individual and no country can be sheltered from the consequences of acts of despair and hysteria. Indeed, we have never felt so much as today that the destiny of mankind is a common one. Therefore, let us pool our resources in order to hasten the transformation our society so sorely needs.
62.	We must resolutely engage in a great crusade against injustice and against all causes of insecurity which daily jeopardize peace and human lives and which are called imperialism, colonialism, apartheid, hunger, disease, illiteracy, poverty and selfishness, to cite only the most familiar ones. We would thus be contributing to the achievement of a world of peace and happiness to which all our peoples so strongly aspire. Mali is determined to work for the realization of this great project when is, furthermore, in full accord with the historic mission of our generation.
63.	Therefore, Mr. President, let us see to it that the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, over which you are presiding with such perspicacity and wisdom, will mark the point of departure of this great transformation. The interest of peace and the survival of humanity should stimulate our efforts to this end. Let us act therefore before it is too late.


In the Christian Bible, the Book of Proverbs suggests that mortal men live for threescore and ten years, a number that fairly accurately reflects the current modal life expectancy of the global population. Today we have assembled for the seventieth time in the life of the United Nations with the legitimate question of whether this imperfect assembly of mortals has seen its best days, or if, by reason of the strength of our principles
and actions, we may endure to overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines looks forward to the wise and experienced stewardship of President Mogens Lykketoft during this seventieth session of the General Assembly. President Lykketoft, who will celebrate his seventieth birthday during his tenure, can confidently stand on the exceptional works performed by His Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa during last year’s session.
This year, possibly more than at any point in our modern history, our Assembly is beset by global threats and risks that force us to consider the ways in which our core principles of sovereignty and non-interference can overcome today’s challenges. Borderless menaces such as terrorism, economic crises, contagious diseases and climate change heed neither geopolitical boundaries nor governmental jurisdiction. Furthermore, the calamitous fallout of military adventurism, economic recklessness or environmental negligence is not confined to discrete national boundaries. Rather, the chickens often return to roost in far-flung, unexpected and often blameless locales. As such, more than ever our international relations must be defined by cooperation, collaboration and decisive action.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a small, mountainous archipelago of 32 islands scattered across a shimmering Caribbean sea. But the idyll implicit in our verdant peaks and crystal waters is now belied by the grave and gathering threat of climate change. Rising and raging seas attack our coastline and infrastructure from beyond our shores, while rains and climate volatility make landslides and deadly flooding a real and increasingly frequent internal threat to lives and livelihoods.
The intensifying vulnerability of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and its neighbouring islands to climate change is clear in the alternating bouts of drought and flooding that have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in loss and damage in my country in successive years. Less than two years ago, devastating floods washed away 17 per cent of our fragile gross domestic product and claimed 12 lives. Our quest to recover and to make our people whole again is a continuing struggle and one that takes place against a backdrop of hope that we are not soon beset by a similar tragedy.
One month ago, tropical storm Erika struck our sister island of Dominica, a mere 150 miles north of our
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country. The death and destruction wrought by the storm are heartrending and serve as yet another unwanted reminder of the ominous threat of global warming and the precarious nature of our developmental aspirations in the face of an increasingly inhospitable climate. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other Caribbean countries have joined friendly nations in assisting the Commonwealth of Dominica in its hour of need. I beseech other countries that have not yet supported this noble effort of relief, recovery and reconstruction to do so with the utmost urgency and generosity.
Our existential struggles in the face of climate change inform our posture in the frustratingly meandering negotiations to arrive at a legally binding agreement within the parameters of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We are two months away from a deadline for reaching such an agreement at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP21) in Paris, but the precariousness of our global plight is not matched by the ambition of our partners. Indeed, the posturing and recalcitrance of some major emitters suggest that COP21 may be yet another empty diplomatic dance that prioritizes process over progress.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is embracing a green future. We are actively engaged in transitioning from fossil fuels to a renewable mix of solar, hydro and geothermal energy. Within the next three years, more than 80 per cent of our electricity needs will be provided by renewable energy. If we could control our climate destiny and insulate ourselves from the recklessness of other emitters, we would approach the future with greater confidence.
The aftershocks and repercussions of the global economic and financial crisis continue to convulse developing nations. The crisis casts a shadow on our collective efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and shrouds our newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals in uncertainty. The measure of our recovery is not the health of corporations or the rate of jobless economic growth, but the ways in which we have reformed our financial architecture and the reordering of priorities that places people and the alleviation of poverty at the centre of our developmental discourse.
The late United States President John F. Kennedy once said that if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. The fortress of wealth is not impregnable to the growing
unrest and instability born of crushing poverty. Our failure to address and assault global poverty in this era of excess and innovation stands as the most stinging rebuke to our existing system of crass commercialism and unfettered corporate profiteering.
In an Assembly shaped by the desire to end global wars, we must remember Gandhi’s admonition that poverty is the worst form of violence. We cannot simply pay lip service to people’s right to development. Instead, that right must emerge as the driving force in this Assembly’s senior years. The roots of modern poverty and underdevelopment are deep and diverse. But even the most casual student of history will acknowledge the debilitating and continuing impacts of native genocide and the institution of slavery on Caribbean States. They constitute in the aggregate an awesome legacy of underdevelopment, a historic bundle of wrongs to be righted.
I reiterate the united call of the Caribbean Community for reparatory justice from the major participants in and beneficiaries of the transatlantic slave trade. Our quest for justice is supported by the 33 members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and numerous progressive nations globally. The fate of our indigenous peoples and the legacies of slavery and colonial exploitation are neither partisan political talking points nor historical afterthoughts. They are an ever-present modern reality whose redress remains a noise in our blood and an echo in our bones. These issues must form part of the post- 2015 development conversation, and also a part of our combined efforts to uplift the International Decade for People of African Descent.
It pains me that I must yet again speak, and demand appropriate redress, on the subject of the retroactive stripping of citizenship of persons of Haitian descent born in the Dominican Republic and their forcible deportation to Haiti, a country to which many of these victims have only a vague ancestral connection. We in the Caribbean Community are pledged to work with our Caribbean family in the Dominican Republic to assist in ending this tragedy at the heart of our Caribbean civilization, but the authorities of the Dominican Republic must demonstrate a good faith not merely in words but in deeds. We in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines cannot remain silent or indifferent in the face of this gross violation of human rights. This not a migration issue of the type that is currently engulfing the European Union. At its core, this is an international
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human rights issue of the gravest kind upon which the United Nations must pronounce unambiguously.
Seventy years ago, the United Nations was founded with a central goal of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war — the very first principle enunciated in our Charter. Today, wars and rumours of wars continue to bring untold sorrow to mankind. Too often these wars are the product of great Power arrogance and decisions based not on fact but on wishful ideological impulses. The results of these actions and inactions almost invariably exacerbate underlying conflicts and produce unwanted global repercussions.
International terrorism threatens us all and requires concerted international cooperation. Anti-terrorist intervention must not be shaped by which side of a border the terrorist armies happen to encamp or one’s ideological affinity for the Governments most threatened by these barbaric hordes. We have already learned that modern terrorism, wherever it takes root, can threaten peace and prosperity in any corner of the globe. Stamping it out must be a shared and pressing priority.
Diplomacy ought to be most active in averting conflict and defusing disagreements. Within the zone of peace that encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is concerned at the sharpening of rhetoric between our long-time friends and allies in Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Their border dispute, which dates back to the nineteenth century, has long been constrained by the ties of brotherhood, solidarity and international cooperation. Accordingly, we call for renewed and reinvigorated diplomatic engagement in the management and ultimate resolution of this vexing issue.
The maintenance and restoration of international peace and security have been the responsibility of the Security Council for the last 70 years. The Security Council, more than any other body delineated in our Charter, is unmistakably in a period of doddering dotage, unable to act with the nimbleness or decisiveness necessary to meet modern challenges. The necessity of reform and rebirth, which is acute in any institution entering its eighth decade, is particularly pressing in the case of the Security Council. For too long, reform efforts have fallen victim to the geopolitical ambitions of entrenched Council members and the regional rivalries of legitimate aspirants. This must end. We must ensure that.
Similarly, the important and indispensable work of United Nations peacekeepers throughout the world must be above reproach. The United Nations must claim responsibility not only for its successes but also for its occasional grave failures. Our collective sanctimony rings hollow when the United Nations shirks its undeniable responsibility for spreading cholera in Haiti, to the tune of 9,400 deaths and more than 400,000 hospitalized. Legal loopholes cannot mask moral responsibility in this case. Nor can we condemn sexual violence as a war crime while shrugging off the unacceptable actions of some United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. Our Assembly has a responsibility to be open and transparent to meet these sporadic failings head on and to offer redress to all victims of peacekeeper negligence or aggression.
On Wednesday, tomorrow, I will stand a few metres away from where I am speaking today to witness the raising of the flag of the State of Palestine alongside other States’ flags in the United Nations compound. The decision to fly the Palestinian flag here at the United Nations, adopted by an overwhelming majority of Member States, is an unmistakable endorsement of a true two-State solution with a viable and safe Palestine living alongside its neighbours in a secure Israel. But the symbolic nature of next week’s ceremony is no substitute for continued action to make that two-State solution a reality. With each passing day, realities on the ground make such a solution increasingly difficult. Though the conflict between the States of Israel and Palestine are undeniably complex, they are not beyond the capacity of the parties and the international community to resolve, and we must do so. And we must help in doing so.
The Assembly’s unambiguous position on Palestine is reminiscent of our long-standing and overwhelming opposition to the United States commercial and economic embargo against the people of the Republic of Cuba. The embargo has persisted for 55 of the 70 years that the United Nations has been in existence, and its toll is measured in billions of dollars, hundreds of lives and countless developmental opportunities lost.
This year, Presidents Obama and Castro have demonstrated laudable courage in working together to move past years of enmity and mutual mistrust. But the welcome détente between the two countries has not yet led to a lifting of the embargo. There is much more to be done to unshackle the Cuban people from
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the chains of an unjust, illegal and plainly outmoded blockade. Our collective pressure, so critical to the belated rapprochement, cannot waver. Instead, we must intensify our calls for the complete lifting of this anachronism, and to make whole this rupture in our hemispheric family.
This seventieth year of the United Nations must therefore be a year of not only action but also inclusion, outreach and redress of calcified injustices. As such, we must move beyond our inexplicable exclusion of Taiwan from the work of the specialized agencies of the United Nations. The perspective, experience and example of Taiwan as an active and responsible global citizen are self-evident arguments in support of their greater inclusion and participation. Taiwan’s continued exclusion can be neither explained nor justified by any rational and forward-looking global gathering.
In this, our seventieth year, let us pledge ourselves to liberate our nations and our global family from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation and warfare; to emancipate ourselves from the mental slavery of discrimination and learned helplessness; to unshackle our policies from the narrow nationalism and imperialist ambition that constrains the limitless possibilities of the human spirit. As nations and peoples we have choices. In the 70 years of this Assembly’s life we have sometimes chosen unilateralism. Many have chosen militarism. Many have chosen, too, to defer and dissemble.
Today, as we look towards a complex and uncertain future, let us instead choose love — love of our fellow human beings, love of our planet, and an abiding love not of problems but of their practical solutions. For with love, faith, works and hope all things are possible, including a further 70 years for the better of this remarkably important global gathering. We are all labouring in this vineyard. We must have the labour of love, of love, of love.