156.	 Twenty years ago, Africa rose above the emotion and tensions inherent in post-independence periods to present itself united to the rest of the world and thus to bring to the international community a message, the thrust of which was as potent as that of the Charter of the United Nations.
157.	In this twentieth anniversary year since the creation of that great African assembly, the OAU, it is quite natural that at the opening of the thirty-eighth session of this Assembly the first words of the spokesman of the Republic of Mali should be in salute to this message of responsibility, this message of the unity of hearts and wills in the service of peace, at this time of extreme tension in the world.
158.	This state of the world makes the peoples of the United Nations live in anxiety about the future. The overwhelming picture of this state was described by the many eminent heads of State and Government who have spoken in turn from this rostrum and who, in their wisdom, have preached their love for peace and indicated the best ways to give the world confidence again.
159.	The dominant features of the present international crises they have dwelt on, far from having moderated since the thirty-seventh session, have rather become so
accentuated that we are, unfortunately, perhaps without even realizing it, on the brink of the apocalypse. The Member States on whom the Charter has conferred special responsibility for the maintenance of peace remain locked in the search for fatal weapons; other States, unfortunately, are still involved in wars to which there is no end in sight. In some places anachronistic colonial domination persists in its demeaning and destructive effects. Almost everywhere the world is idle, the world is ill-nourished, the world is hungry. Another outburst of racism aids and abets the crime of apartheid.
160.	Unless it reacts vehemently, the United Nations will remain in the restraint of a certain political fatalism in its approach to dangerous developments in those events that we analyse at each session with such impressive lucidity. Unfortunately, each time we find only ineffectual solutions, because some are accepted by general agreement but never implemented, while others remain tenuous because of the major reservations entered when they were adopted.
161.	However, the drafters of the Charter dreamed of a grand world which would constantly improve in a healthy and inspiring competition to exalt the grandeur and dignity of man.
162.	In our work of seeking viable solutions for distressing international problems, we welcome as an exceptional stroke of fortune for the international community the fact that the work of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly is being guided by a statesman of the calibre of Mr. Jorge Illueca. This sign of international approval is a tribute to the continuing action of his country, Panama, in working for peace. It is also a tribute to the efforts he personally has made throughout an outstanding career devoted to the defence of the lofty principles of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the noble ideals of the Charter.
163.	The heavy burden that an exceptional destiny has led him to assume will be made lighter by the fact that the Secretariat is guided by that other diplomat whose competence has been recognized by all, Mr. Javier P6rez de Cu611ar, citizen of a country neighbouring his which, like Panama, is a friend of my own country. After scarcely two years in office, the Secretary-General, thanks to his calm determination and his high-mindedness, has conferred fresh dynamism on the administration of the United Nations. We salute the courage and tenacity he has shown in calling upon the United Nations to be receptive to fresh ideas which can lead us finally to build this world where all nations, without exception, will redouble their concerted efforts to bring about a society of peace, built by peoples all of whom are free from all forms of domination, a society of progress built on the just satisfaction of the common aspirations of peoples and nations to well-being, freedom and security, and thus to peace.
164.	Mr. Illueca's predecessor, Mr. Imre Hollai of the Hungarian People's Republic, worked throughout the thirty-seventh session with his customary ability for the triumph of the Organization's ideals and principles. We renew our heartfelt congratulations to that citizen of a country which is friendly with mine.
163. The aim of the United Nations is to achieve universality. One glimmer of hope is that this dream of universality of the drafters of the Charter is inexorably becoming a reality. Thus the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly has had the pleasure of welcoming into its midst Saint Christopher and Nevis. On behalf of the people of Mali and its leaders, it is an honour for me to welcome the brother nation of this new State and to assure it of our firm intention of joining in fraternal cooperation in defending the principles and ideals of the Charter of the United Nations.
166.	Although the Organization has been enriched by another fighter for the triumph of the right to freedom and national existence, nevertheless we must mention the persistence of colonial domination, and this almost forty years since the Charter was signed and almost a quarter of a century since the adoption of the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Through its arrogance and excessive violence, this anachronistic colonial domination is without any doubt a challenge to the Charter, a challenge to the Organization, a challenge to the conscience of mankind and therefore a challenge that is unacceptable. This situation is one of the major causes of the increasing deterioration of the international climate. In order to preserve peace, all nations have the moral responsibility and the imperative duty to resist all attacks on the dignity of peoples and the free choice of their future. But unfortunately this fight that we must wage together is coming up against the selfish interests of the Organization's Member States, some of whom have a specific responsibility for the maintenance of peace.
167.	That is why the Pretoria regime, which negates the elementary values of civilization, can continue with impunity to defy the international community by illegally occupying Namibia and by practising the heinous policy of
168.	After the adoption of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) by unanimous vote, including the five great Powers, and the Pretoria regime's unreserved acceptance of the resolution, we had hoped that the Namibian question had finally been resolved. But we did not take into account either the customary arrogance of the racist regime or, especially, the attitude of certain States Members of the United Nations which unhesitatingly contradicted their noble ideals of justice and freedom by showing great understanding towards and even complicity with the illegal racist Power of Pretoria.
169.	In order to delay Namibia's accession to independence, South Africa has constantly initiated plans, manoeuvres and evasive tactics to link that independence sometimes to the presence of Cuban troops in Angola, sometimes to the prior adoption of a sham electoral system, sometimes to the alleged partiality of this Organization. The establishment of a supposed security zone in southern Africa is the latest argument advanced by the Pretoria racists for installing a puppet council of State in Namibia.
170.	Memories are not so short that we can forget that the People's Republic of Angola, shortly after it achieved independence, was invaded without any declaration of war by South Africa. First of all, Angola went to the United Nations to obtain a guarantee of its security, but without success, and that young Republic had no choice, other than self-destruction, but to exercise its natural right of legitimate defence, which is recognized and authorized by Article 51 of the Charter.
171.	The plans, manoeuvres and evasive tactics of Pretoria are merely well-known delaying tactics, while South Africa is still with impunity occupying part of Angola by force and is pursuing its armed aggression against neighbouring independent, sovereign countries.
172.	The true intentions of South Africa in linking Namibian independence with the prior establishment of a security zone in southern Africa are those same intentions as lead it to keep Namibia in perpetual subjection,
to break the revolutionary spirit of the people of Azania and persuade the international community to give its approval to apartheid. Thus it is easy to understand why the proposals for a settlement of the Namibian question have remained a dead letter.
173.	Therefore it is through the implementation of resolution 435 (1978) and the relevant annexes, which in and of themselves are sufficient, that we must make every effort to help SWAPO, the sole legitimate representative of the Namibian people, finally and in the very near future, to begin the construction of its country, returned to freedom in strict respect for its demographic homogeneity and territorial integrity.
174.	Mali will continue to give its active support to the valiant people of Namibia so that final victory may be the just reward of its long martyrdom and further proof of the faith of the peoples still under colonial domination in the United Nations.
175.	The freedom of peoples and respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of States are sacred. Respect for human dignify is also sacred apartheid defies the solemn undertaking that we have given on behalf of the peoples of the United Nations to attain the noble objectives of the Charter. Thus the struggle against	of is becoming the struggle of all to preserve human dignity. It pits the Pretoria regime, the legatee of a racism which almost brought the world to its downfall, against our common determination to live in harmony and to enrich ourselves through our differences.
176.	apartheid cannot be humanized; it is its nature to divide in order to strengthen repression. The recent attempts to break the unity of the South African nationalists in fact hide its vulnerability in the face of the increasing triumphs of the freedom fighters and of the growing condemnation by the world public. The international community strengthened its support for the cause of freedom by deciding on more concrete measures at the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, held from 1 to 12 August 1983 at Geneva.
177.	It is the duty of the international community, in particular the United Nations, to intensify its struggle against apartheid by isolating Pretoria totally. We must fight by every means available—diplomatic, political, economic and military—against a regime which maintains an anachronistic colonial system, a regime which practises an internal policy which is a disgrace to mankind, a regime which through its daily acts of aggression violates the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of its neighbours.
178.	The provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter show the way and give the means to the Security Council, to which the Charter has given the primary task of maintaining international peace and security.
179.	The right of peoples to freedom is universal and inalienable. It applies to the people of Azania, to the people of Namibia and to the Palestinian people. The struggle for national existence waged by the Palestinian people under the banner of the PLO goes beyond the context of Palestine. After four wars it continues to shake the Middle East; it carries the seeds of another international conflagration which could have fatal consequences. The question of Palestine, far from being an Arab-Israeli conflict, is in fact a conflict between an occupying Power and a people that rejects colonial domination. It was in the quest for a final, but impossible, victory against the valiant Palestinian fighters that the Golan Heights were occupied, that the nuclear facilities at Tammuz were bombed, that Lebanon was invaded and that a year ago the disgraceful massacres of Sabra and Shatila were perpetrated.
180.	The proposals by Mali with the object of establishing peace in the Middle East, and reaffirmed by the head of State of Mali from this rostrum at the thirty-sixth session entirely relevant and valid.
181.	The very pertinent conclusions of the International Conference on the Question of Palestine, held at Geneva from 29 August to 7 September 1983, and the Programme of Action for the Achievement of Palestinian Rights  offer all countries that cherish peace and justice new reasons for redoubling their efforts to ensure that the Palestinian people, under the guidance of the PLO, their sole legitimate representative, are able to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and independence.
182.	Respect for the universal principles that underlie the basic right of peoples to self-determination must be seen by every Member State as a sacred duty. It is a duty fulfilled by my country, Mali, when it recognized and reaffirmed the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination by means of an open and properly organized general referendum, which is the only way of resolving the serious crisis resulting from incomplete decolonization. Only the speedy conclusion of this process can help establish a just and definitive peace in that subregion of Africa, whose peoples, including my own, have through the ages been mutually enriched by their experiences, their culture and their philosophy of life. The question of Western Sahara must in no way impair the harmonious sharing of this common heritage.
183.	The differences on this question, as is known, have caused a serious crisis within the OAU. The African heads of State—although I shall not detail the many individual and collective initiatives that have been taken—have laid a solid foundation for a settlement of the question of Western Sahara. Indeed, at Addis Ababa, at its nineteenth session, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity adopted a settlement plan [see	which calls for the cooperation of the United Nations.
184.	Notwithstanding the difficulties that have now arisen concerning the implementation of that important and decisive resolution adopted at Addis Ababa, we pin our hopes on the actions and initiatives under way to find an African solution for the problem of the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
185.	Several years of warfare in the Western Sahara have shown that the solution to the question does not lie in military confrontation. History also teaches us that there has not been a single conflict or war that has not ended at the negotiating table. That is the price of peace in Western Sahara, a price that the parties to the conflict, POLISARIOs and the Kingdom of Morocco, must pay with honour and dignity.
186.	It is because of its awareness of the interdependence of all peoples, particularly those living in the same area of civilization, that the people of Mali has made and will continue to make good-neighborliness a cardinal principle of its African policy. As has been repeatedly stated from this rostrum, Mali intends to consolidate that principle, which we see as the only way to guarantee the individual existence of all States.
187.	That is why Mali continues to participate in the patient building of regional bodies which are demonstrating their mission of peace, solidarity, co-operation and friendship among brother peoples naturally united by a common history.

188.	To cite but a few examples of such organizations, the West African Economic Community, the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River, and the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel are effective instruments for the development of our subregion. On an even wider scale, faithful to the strategy set out by the Lagos Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa, the Economic Community of West African States is now operating a large, reliable pool of experts and economic, cultural and social resources which could give a new dimension to the fruitful contribution of the African peoples to the very necessary dialogue among nations.
189.	Those are the sole and profound reasons that have led the Governments of our subregion, mindful of the reality of their history and the age-old devotion to peace of their peoples, to conclude border agreements to strengthen, in tranquillity, their many links of co-operation and thus to participate in bringing a new order to the developing world, given the present deadlock in the North-South dialogue.
190.	Such agreements have already been concluded between Niger and Algeria, and Algeria and Mali, and will soon be concluded between Mali and Mauritania, and Mali and Upper Volta. They attest to the fact that good faith and a sound and brotherly concept of the principle of good-neighborliness make possible the honest implementation of the OAU rule regarding the inviolability of the borders bequeathed by the colonial Power, and they remain the only basis on which to look beyond short- term issues and devote ourselves to the urgent tasks of development.
191.	Only through the maintenance of positive dialogue and the spirit of good-neighborliness among the nations, and particularly those of the third world, can we move towards the realization of the great aspirations of the peoples of the United Nations.
192.	That phenomenon, which is already notable in its immediate effects, is undoubtedly based on age-old virtues. Those virtues are embodied in the collective wisdom of nations and will triumph over the present obstacles and the conflicts and wars which unfortunately still divide brothers, destroy families and wipe out societies. At each historic turning-point the people have found the appropriate response to their preoccupations. That is why my delegation is convinced that now, too, Africans will be able to resolve the problems that have arisen in the continent.
193.	The situation prevailing in Chad, which is of concern to the people of Mali and its leaders, has become more tense, despite the precarious lull of recent weeks.
194.	Chad, a Sahel State and a founding member of the Organization of Saharan States, must be the primary beneficiary of the principles governing the charter of that young subregional organization. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Chad must be safeguarded. The national unity of the people of Chad must be preserved. If those two major objectives are to be achieved, all States Members of the United Nations must ensure that two essential conditions are fulfilled. First, there must be no external interference, whether from within or outside Africa. Secondly, and above all, it is only through national reconciliation that a lasting solution can be found to the crisis in Chad. Only the reconciliation of all the sons of Chad will make it possible to resolve the Chad aspect of the crisis. When the children of Chad are reconciled, the external aspect of the crisis will be more easily resolved, because in unity people have always found appropriate responses to attacks on their sovereignty and independence and territorial integrity.
195.	We have already stated that only dialogue and a policy of good-neighborliness can lead to the achievement of the great aspirations of the people who have given us a mandate to guarantee their security and well-being. Unfortunately, those aspirations are still thwarted in Latin America and in the Caribbean.
196.	Those third world countries this year commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Simon Bolivar, one of their greatest historical figures for whom freedom, tolerance and unity were the indispensable foundations of the emancipation of the region. Africa, which appreciated the awarding of the Simon Bolivar Prize to Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for life in South African gaols, welcomes that great event.
197.	The message of Contadora and the Manifesto to the Peoples of Latin America in the Declaration by the Presidents of the Bolivarian Republics adopted at Caracas in July 1983	clearly reflect the faith of Latin America in its unity and in its desire for co-operation in peace and with respect for the sovereignty of States. The Republic of Mali renews its support for them in the efforts to achieve those noble objectives which are so dear to the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.
198.	The seriousness of international disputes and their consequences require us to look for wise solutions. It is more than ever necessary for us to realize the futility of war as a means of resolving conflicts among nations.
199.	My country is deeply concerned by the conflict between Iraq and Iran, two Muslim non-aligned countries both of which are friends of the people of Mali. The mediation efforts of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and by the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement have unfortunately not put an end to that war. The Republic of Mali, which has always supported any initiative aimed at the definitive solution of that painful problem, once again appeals urgently to the belligerent parties finally to heed the voice of reason and put an end to the hostilities, which threaten the stability of the region and jeopardize its development.
200.	We hope that finally an atmosphere of peace, understanding and concord will be established among all the sons of Afghanistan. That proud and courageous people, which has a noble history, would gain much by laying down its arms, so that it could regain its unity and tackle its primary tasks of development.
201.	With regard to Kampuchea, my country, which very much appreciates the age-old genius of the great peoples of the region, will associate itself fully with any action aiming at bringing about a political solution to the crisis.
202.	The situation prevailing in Cyprus is also a matter of concern and continues to be a source of international tension. We encourage the two communities, Greek and Turkish, to continue along the path of negotiation and positive dialogue. For its part, Mali, which is a member of the contact group on Cyprus of the Non-Aligned Movement, will spare no effort to find a just and lasting solution to this conflict.
203.	After more than two decades, we are still awaiting a solution to the splitting of Korea, which was artificially divided. The national feeling of the Korean people is profound and its thirst for unity is real. The seriousness of recent events in that part of the world requires that political ways and means be found for a peaceful reunification of the Korean homeland.

204.	The world is dominated by crises and confrontations which may lead humanity to its doom. These situations are taking on a terrifying dimension because of the strengthening of military alliances and the frenetic race for more and more sophisticated weapons. The serious risks of a nuclear conflagration are becoming more apparent every day. Thus, despite the declarations of principle and the best intentions, disarmament remains an empty word.
205.	As the delegation of Mali emphasized at the thirty- fourth session:
 It is essential for us to continue to work together openly in order to make headway along the difficult road to general and complete disarmament, to the dismantling of all military bases forcibly stationed in third world countries and to the stopping and reversing of the arms race. It is only that type of co-operation that can lead to the creation of a more secure world where peace would depend less on weapons and would no longer be founded on the outmoded theory of a balance of terror and mutual destruction.
206.	Therefore, my delegation will continue to support any proposal leading to general and complete disarmament considered in all its aspects. It will continue to take an active part, with total open-mindedness, in any positive initiatives to reverse the arms race. Mali associates itself with any effort to strengthen the just positions—just because they are truly independent of ideological or military blocs—as expressed at the Seventh Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, at New Delhi in March 1983.
207.	In the field of disarmament as in that of development, the true solutions to international problems must proceed from a comprehensive view of the world, in particular the primacy of our common future. This vision has been lacking and the world economy is beset by crisis.
208.	In the face of this common peril, the attitude has been a negative one of self-defence and not a positive one of seeking collective security. Thus, further protectionist barriers have been erected to stave off the crisis. They have had the opposite effect since the crisis has worsened. Trade has shrunk and the monetary market is beyond our understanding.
209.	In its 1983 World Development Report, the World Bank allows hope for a possible forthcoming recovery in certain economies of the developed market economy countries. To quote the document, this is a recovery  which is taking a long time to come , or, to use an expression used by the economic services of the United Nations,  it is an elusive recovery .
210.	This recovery is not' 'taking a long time to come'', nor is it an  elusive  recovery for the developing countries which continue to suffer the most restrictive effects of the world economic crisis: an unprecedented drop in real terms of commodity prices, a constant drop since 1970 in the average export earnings from manufactured goods of developing countries, and unprecedentedly high interest rates. This means a lessening of their ability to pay and thus to a blockage of development.
211.	The world Economic Survey,—this time a United Nations publication —reaffirms this in these words:  In the developing countries considered as a group, production has failed to rise for the first time since the end of the war.  And the World Bank goes further than this:  Low-income countries in Africa, more dependent on the imports of commodities, have suffered much from the crisis. Their per capita income continues to be reduced, with the risk of being lower in the 1980s than it was in the 1960s.
212.	However, peace and development are interdependent, as was forcefully emphasized by the heads of State or Government of non-aligned countries at New Delhi. In the name of our abiding fundamental interest, the third world, particularly the non-aligned countries, for more than 20 years—that is to say, at the very time when the economies of the developed countries were expanding— has ceaselessly called for collective and broad thinking about the need to reorder our economies for their continuous harmonious expansion. Unfortunately, no satisfactory response has been given to this invitation.
213.	Since 1964, on the initiative of the third world, the United Nations has been trying to fix a development target for international trade relations by setting up a more orderly and equitable world economic machinery. UNCTAD was given that mandate, and it has just concluded its sixth session, held at Belgrade from 6 June to 2 July 1983, without even reaching agreements in principle on pressing issues, which are basic elements of the present economic crisis.
214.	The enormous hopes aroused in 1979 by the invitation of the third world to embark on global negotiations on the establishment of a new international economic order are steadily receding. Indeed, after many long and irksome years of talks, with contacts very often at the highest level, negotiations are still at the procedural stage.
215.	International development strategies and machinery conceived to make them effective have thus suffered setbacks because of the resistance of certain developed countries to a dynamic new approach to world problems of development and to the need to find advantageous solutions.
216.	Because of insufficient resources, UNDP has been forced to reduce drastically the level of its involvement in the implementation of the programmes of the third programming cycle. It is useful to recall that these programmes were set up with special consideration for the greater vulnerability of the economies of many countries which are the beneficiaries of UNDP activities, in particular the least developed countries. Many United Nations funds exist in name only.
217.	The developing countries, need I recall, are suffering tragically from the effects of the economic crisis. This blanket statement, however, conceals the even more untenable position of the least developed among them, particularly those suffering from especially difficult geographical and climatic conditions.
218.	The drought which has afflicted the Sudano-Sahelian region for 14 years has continued and is steadily worsening. The national efforts made by the courageous peoples of the Sahel to assure their self-sufficiency in food and their effective participation in the international economy have been severely handicapped by the present unfair market laws. The countries affected by the drought have often drawn the attention of the international community to the grave danger of gradual desertification to their survival.
219.	That is why Mali firmly supports the idea launched by ECA to organize an international scientific round table on problems relating to climatic changes in Africa and on the disastrous effects of drought, erosion, cyclones and hunger on African peoples.
220.	However, it is encouraging to note that the economic difficulties of the least developed countries, particularly those in the Sudano-Sahelian region, fortunately have not left the rest of the world completely indifferent.

To improve their state of development—that is to say, to achieve the minimum economic growth targets that they set in close co-operation with the rest of the international community—the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Paris in September 1981, recognized that these targets, incorporated in a substantial new programme for development, would have a chance of being implemented only if these countries were to receive a significant increase in official development assistance during the present decade. The resolutions of the General Assembly concerning the least developed countries come to the same conclusions.
221.	Since that time, round tables held on the welcome initiative of UNDP have enabled several of the least developed countries to engage in appropriate forms of frank and constructive dialogue with donor countries to facilitate the execution of their development programmes.
222.	Our country has had the opportunity to appreciate the benefits of international solidarity, and we hope for the continuation of this active commitment by the developed countries, the international agencies and the financial institutions, particularly the Bretton Woods institutions.
223.	Given the critical situation in the world, we must regain our self-control. We must restore to the United Nations its full capacity to act to eliminate hotbeds of war, to avoid new crises and to seek genuine solutions for the world economic crisis. The proposals made some time ago by the Non-Aligned Movement concerning the effectiveness of the United Nations system have consequently now become particularly relevant and important. In precise, measured and balanced language, the Movement's Seventh Conference of Heads of State or Government called upon the international community to honour its commitment to peace.
224.	In the field of disarmament, we must guarantee survival and coexistence in this nuclear age.
225.	In the field of economic development we are calling for nothing more or less than collective action for world prosperity.
226.	It would be a great source of satisfaction to the people of Mali to work for the triumph of the noble ideals of the Charter, especially for the restoration of international security and stability, particularly at the regional and subregional levels. This would be a great source of encouragement for the people of Mali, who are traditionally devoted to peace, to the reconciliation of hearts and minds and to the strengthening of friendly and fruitful relations among all peoples.
227.	These objectives form part of the abiding concerns of the people of Mali, and that is why in October 1981 the head of State of Mali, President Moussa Traore, reaffirmed from this very rostrum the constructive commitment of our country, which is located in the geopolitical heart of the West African savannah, to dialogue: dialogue among nations; dialogue of history with history; dialogue among differing civilizations; dialogue among men of all beliefs.
228.	At this time, when the peace is being breached throughout the world, when hunger and poverty are on the rise, when the mad race to acquire the instruments of the apocalypse continues, the need to ensure the collective security of the world takes on a vital urgency.
229.	The Republic of Mali calls on the members of the Assembly to join in this noble endeavour.


36.	 First of all, Mr. President, I wish to congratulate you most cordially on your election to the highest office of the thirty-eighth session. This brilliant election is a well-deserved ratification of your talents and personal experience and of the role played by Panama and Latin America in the cause of peace and independence in the world.
37.	I warmly congratulate Mr. Imre Hollai, President of the thirty-seventh session, for his important contributions to the results achieved at that session in extremely difficult circumstances, thanks to his dynamic and skilful guidance of its work.
38.	The Secretary-General has worked tirelessly throughout the past year to promote a greater degree of understanding and compromise on difficult questions. He deserves our gratitude for all his inestimable contributions to the improvement of the international climate.
39.	I extend sincere greetings to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, who, in her capacity as Chairman of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, brought us  the message of the Seventh Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at New Delhi, and who has worked tirelessly to ensure that the thirty-eighth session would be crowned with success for the sake of peace, independence, democracy and social progress in the world.
40.	Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to extend best wishes and a warm welcome to Saint Chrisopher and Nevis, a new Member the United Nations.
41.	The current session is taking place against a background of very serious international tension. The horrendous threat represented by colossal arsenals of nuclear weapons weighs heavily upon mankind. The arms race is proceeding on an unprecedented scale and relations between the Soviet Union and the United States have become dangerously strained.
42.	Flashpoints around the world, particularly in Central America and Lebanon, are reaching the point of explosion. Military manoeuvres and demonstrations of force have occurred throughout the world—particularly in Central America, the Middle East and the Pacific- accompanied by interventions and threats of aggression and of a second lesson against the independence and sovereignty of peoples.
43.	The world economic crisis has grown worse. Trade and monetary wars have been unleashed. An unprecedented escalation of foreign indebtedness has led a number of developing countries to a state bordering on despair. The gap between the developed industrial countries and the developing countries is constantly growing wider, while the solution to the grave problems posed by international economic relations is still impeded.
44.	The three aforementioned fundamental aspects of the present international situation, being closely linked to each other and having a great influence on one another, are leading to a very serious, sensitive situation that could easily explode. All that is needed to lead the world into a global crisis with unforeseeable consequences is a single irresponsible act by a single statesman. Such a situation requires from all statesmen a high sense of responsibility towards world peace and security.
45.	Until late August 1983 mankind noted that there had been a little progress in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and placed great hopes in future meetings between the leaders of the two countries. Suddenly, the South Korean aircraft incident produced a grave crisis in the world, cancelling the much-desired meetings between the United States and the Soviet Union and plunging this session into a stifling cold-war atmosphere. It is regrettable that civilian lives were lost in that incident. Civilians were used to cover up a far-reaching espionage venture, and their death has been used for political ends. Conscientious and thoughtful men ask why the United States authorities have used that aircraft incident to set in motion such an extraordinarily rapid reaction, together with an extremely thorough campaign of mass hysteria on a world-wide level, leading mankind to the threshold of a global crisis.
46.	It will be recalled that those now raising such a din over the spy plane affair were precisely the ones who completely fabricated the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964 and used it as a pretext to launch their aggression against Viet Nam. The secret documents known as the Pentagon Papers, made public in 1968, have already fully exposed this gross act of treachery. It is therefore quite easy to understand how, in an atmosphere overheated by the South Korean aircraft incident, the United States Congress has adopted the largest peacetime military budget.
47.	It is true that the policy of the United States is one of tensions and crises—a policy dictated by the interests of its global strategy. The United States has declared that the period of detente in the 1970s was not profitable to it at all. Since the end of the 1970s, it has set in motion its policy designed to create tensions, undermine East- West detente and speed up the arms race to secure maximum economic and political advantages for itself. Protagonists of political adventurism are working overtime to revive anticommunist hysteria and rekindle tensions in the world in order to go back to the cold-war period and to the brinkmanship policies of the 1950s.
48.	In the economic sphere the United States is doing its utmost to preserve the current unfair world economic order. It is impeding the opening of North-South global negotiations and has caused the failure of the sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It has maintained its refusal to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It has sought to ensure its economic recovery to the detriment of all other countries.
49.	It is obvious that the United States is not prepared to enter into negotiations aimed at removing injustices in international economic relations, insisting stubbornly instead on using its economic superiority to compel the other countries to abide by the present world economic order.
50.	In the political and social spheres, who is it that invariably gives its blessing to all the pro-American dictatorial regimes around the world and opposes all the peoples of countries struggling for independence and freedom and against social injustices? Who invariably supports Israel against the Palestinian and Arab peoples? Who backs the apartheid regime against the South African and Namibian peoples, Angola, Mozambique and other front-line States? Who persists in supporting the bloodthirsty Pinochet clique against the Chilean people?

Who supports the bloodthirsty junta in El Salvador against the Salvadorian people? Who has been threatening the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Nicaragua and the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya? The answers to all those questions are henceforth perfectly dear to all.
51.	Striving to maintain its economic and political interests throughout the world to the detriment of those of other peoples, the United States inevitably runs into the dynamic opposition of those peoples. But it does not wish to enter into negotiations to resolve world political and economic problems on the basis of respect for the independence and sovereignty of other countries. Its basic policy is the big stick and the carrot—but mainly the big stick. The most striking and clearest manifestation of that policy could be seen in the Viet Nam war.
52.	The United States ranks first in the world in terms of gross national product and the Soviet Union comes second, its gross national product accounting for only 60 to 70 per cent of that of the United States. With its economic and technological superiority, the United States is the only one which can make a large budgetary allocation for military expenditures to guarantee its military superiority in the world. Its 1984 military budget will be the largest ever in peacetime and the largest in the world. With a much lower gross national product than that of the United States, the other countries cannot spend a comparable amount on the arms race. At present the United States is inventing a supposed Soviet military superiority, just as it thought up the supposed missile gap in the early 1960s in order to force Congress to agree to a reckless increase in military expenditure.
53.	Acceleration of the arms race has thus proved to be a long-term United States policy, even during the 1950s when it had a monopoly and superiority in the nuclear field. That is precisely what brought the negotiations on the limitation and reduction of strategic arms and of medium-range missiles to a stop. That is also what has created tension throughout the world.
54.	With present-day nuclear arsenals and the arms race, mankind finds itself on the brink of a catastrophe which would spell its own extinction. The general debate during the past days in the General Assembly has brought to light the profound concern of the international community as a whole as to the urgent need to prevent the nuclear arms race from getting out of hand and reaching the point of no return.
55.	The socialist countries, non-aligned countries, pence-loving Governments and all peoples throughout the world at this very moment are working hard to strengthen their solidarity and their determination to defend peace. Together, and solidly united, they are certain to confront successfully the danger of a nuclear war of extermination. The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam wishes it to be known that it fully supports the proposals of the socialist countries, the non-aligned and other peace-loving countries designed to put an end to the arms race, to promote disarmament, to prevent a nuclear war and to preserve world peace.
56.	While they are committed to the prevention of a new world war, the peoples of all countries will have to struggle with equal vigour against local wars. Since the end of the Second World War the international community as a whole has been able to enjoy the longest period of peace in this century. But, notwithstanding the absence of a world war in the last four decades, the quantity of bombs and ammunition used during that period of peace against the struggles for independence and freedom of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America has reached a record in this century. The quantity of bombs and ammunition used in the Viet Nam war alone far exceeded the amount used in both world wars combined— and that is not taking into account the quantity of weapons and ammunition used in the war of aggression against Korea and the wars waged by Israel against the Arab peoples and by Pretoria against the South African and the Namibian peoples and against the front-line countries. What is particularly dangerous is that the United States authorities are using their absolute military superiority to intimidate, threaten, directly intervene in and commit aggression against the countries struggling for independence and freedom, countries whose military forces are many times weaker than those of the United States.
57.	At the end of the Viet Nam war the United States said that it would make sure that it never became involved in a second Viet Nam. After the Korean war it said that it would not get involved in another war on the Asian continent. However, 10 years later it set in motion the Viet Nam war, a war on the Asian continent which was more bloody than the Korean war. The Viet Nam war ended 10 years ago, but the United States is now busily engaged in precisely the same conduct as got it into the Viet Nam war in the first place.
58.	At the beginning of the 1960s, the United States Government slandered Viet Nam, accusing it of being a tool of the Soviet Union and China, and criticized the struggle of the Vietnamese people for independence and freedom as being communist expansionism. The United States set itself the duty of defending the so-called free world. Now it is also criticizing the struggle for independence and freedom of the peoples of Nicaragua, El Salvador and other countries in Central America and the Caribbean as communist expansion and East-West rivalry. The United States Secretary of Defense has declared that a military victory will have to be won and the boundaries of the free world clearly drawn in Central America.
59.	It is evident that the fabrications about  Communist aggression  are designed to falsify the essence of the struggle for independence and freedom of the peoples of Central America and to provide a pretext for intervention and aggression. It is regrettable that the Chinese authorities have echoed those falsifications by affirming that the two super-Powers are gradually involving Central America in their rivalry and confrontation.
60.	Everyone recalls that international public opinion in general and public opinion in the United States vigorously condemned the Viet Nam war. Efforts are now being made, however, to depict that war as a noble cause in order to stir up great-Power chauvinism and impel young Americans into a second Viet Nam war.
61.	Twenty years ago the United States authorities set in motion the process by granting military assistance to the puppet administration of South Viet Nam and sending military advisors to train the troops. They sent the Seventh Fleet to parade and manoeuvre up and down the coast of Viet Nam. Now they have been taking identical steps in Central America.
62.	In Viet Nam at the time, having sent the Seventh Fleet, the United States authorities fabricated the Gulf of Tonkin incident as a pretext for bombing North Viet Nam and sending air force and missile units to South Viet Nam. Then they invoked the need to defend the air bases and the missile bases and sent the Marines to South Viet Nam.
63.	Step by step they escalated their claims from the right of Marines to defend themselves if attacked to their right to attack whatever they felt was a potential danger.

Here we have the famous logic of military escalation which led the United States into the bloody Viet Nam war. Each of those actions, unfortunately, is now being repeated in Central America and Lebanon.
64.	It is necessary to put an end to acts of intervention and aggression in Central America, the Middle East and other regions of the world while there is still time.
65.	Viet Nam fully supports the just struggle of Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada and Suriname and that of the peoples of El Salvador and Puerto Rico and other Latin American peoples for peace, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome the six-point position of the Government of Nicaragua and the efforts of the Contadora Group to find a peaceful solution to the problems of Central America.
66.	Viet Nam fully supports the struggle of the Arab peoples, in particular that of the Palestinian people under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], its authentic and legitimate representative, against the Israeli aggressors. We fully support the struggle of the people of South Africa under the guidance of the African National Congress and of the people of Namibia under the leadership of the South West Africa People's Organization	as well as the struggles of Angola, Mozambique and other front-line countries, against the apartheid regime of South Africa. We fully support the struggle of the people of Western Sahara under the leadership of POLISARIO for the exercise of their right to self-determination.
67.	We fully support the struggle of the Korean people to bring about the withdrawal of United States troops from South Korea and for the peaceful reunification of their country, and the struggle of the people of Cyprus to recover their sovereignty and territorial integrity. We fully support the struggle of the people of Afghanistan in defence of the gains of their April revolution.
68.	During the last four decades South-East Asia has been the only region of the world ravaged by uninterrupted wars, the bloodiest of which was the Viet Nam war. At present the region is still without peace and stability. This distressing situation has profound historic roots. For 2,000 years those in power in China always considered South-East Asia their traditional sphere of influence, with Viet Nam in particular as their main object of conquest. Since the thirteenth century Thai people have moved south from southern China and invaded the greater part of the Khmer Empire of the Angkor period and of the Lao Kingdom to found the present Kingdom of Thailand. For almost 10 centuries Thailand considered Kampuchea and Laos to be its vassal States and three times committed aggression against Viet Nam.
69.	More recently, in the last four decades, Thailand has become the main ally of militarism, colonialism and imperialism against the three Indo-Chinese countries.
70.	For its part, throughout that same period China has persistently pursued its aim of subjugating the three Indo- Chinese countries, while at the same time seeking compromises with France and the United States to the detriment of those Indo-Chinese countries.
, 70. For the past five years China and Thailand, the traditional expansionists and hegemonists with designs on the countries of Indo-China, have acted in collusion with each other to again oppose the three Indo-Chinese countries, with the complicity of the United States and Japan, the former aggressors in Indo-China. 71. It is well known that the three Indo-Chinese countries are the victims of aggression. They have never in their history invaded China or Thailand or any other country. Of course there are problems among the three countries as a result of historical factors, but they are insignificant compared with the crimes committed against them by China and Thailand in the past. The past hundred years in particular have linked the destinies of these three peoples more closely. They shared the same colonial fate and have all been the victims of foreign aggression and of the atrocities of Pol Pot. They have joined in a long struggle to regain and safeguard the independence of the three countries and to help the Kampuchean people to rid themselves of the genocidal Pol Pot regime.
72.	Vietnamese volunteers have on three occasions gone to Kampuchea to fight side by side with the Kampuchean people against the colonialists, the imperialists and the genocidal gang of Pol Pot, China's henchman. Twice they have withdrawn from Kampuchea. This time as well the Vietnamese volunteers will withdraw when the security of the People's Republic of Kampuchea is assured.
73.	The Kampuchean issue, as well as the question of peace and stability in South-East Asia, in essence involves China's policy of making use of Pol Pot's supporters and acting in collusion with Thailand against the three countries of Indo-China.
74.	In their last war against Viet Nam, the American troops led the aggression and the troops of Thailand and South Korea followed them. The United States was clearly exposed as the aggressor. Now China is hiding in the background, behind the scenes. It is using Pol Pot and pitting the countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations P4SR4A/}, with Thailand in the fore, against the three Indo-Chinese countries. It is an open secret that Pol Pot is an agent of China, maintained and supplied by China. It is clear that China is now the main obstacle to a peaceful solution in South-East Asia.
75.	In an attempt to cover up its expansionist and hegemonistic policy in South-East Asia, China fabricated the so-called Soviet and Vietnamese expansion in the region. After Viet Nam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea had twice undertaken the progressive annual withdrawal of Vietnamese volunteers from Kampuchea, the Peking authorities spread new slanders about a supposed dispatch of massive numbers of Vietnamese civilians in an attempt to vietnamize Kampuchea.
76.	Everyone knows that the civilian Vietnamese formerly residing in Kampuchea suffered two atrocious massacres, first by Lon Nol and then by Pol Pot, and have been reduced to one tenth their former number, so that they now constitute a smaller group than the persons of Chinese origin living in that country.
77.	It is also well known that there are over 20 million persons of Chinese origin in South-East Asia. These people have a considerable hold on the economies of many countries of the region, and a country was created with a population that is primarily of Chinese origin. For South-East Asia, the Chinese threat comes not only from China, but from within the countries of the region as well.
78.	Any effective solution must lead to the termination of the absolutely intolerable state of affairs in which the three Indo-Chinese countries have for the past 40 years constantly been the victims of aggression and intervention, and must guarantee a lasting peace and the independence and sovereignty of all the countries of Southeast Asia free of any outside interference. On the other hand, any solution favouring only one party would not solve any problem and could never bring about peace and stability in the region. Such a solution would be unacceptable.
79.	The position of the three Indo-Chinese countries can be clearly stated as follows. First, the total withdrawal
of the Vietnamese volunteers from Kampuchea will be carried out concurrently with the complete cessation of the Chinese threat, of the use of Pol Pot supporters to impede the recovery of the Kampuchean people, and of the use of Thai territory against the three Indo-Chinese countries, concurrently with the disarming of the supporters of Pol Pot and the punishment of the genocidal Pol Pot criminals. The People's Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam have decided to withdraw some of the Vietnamese volunteers from Kampuchea each year and will effect a total withdrawal once the peace and security of Kampuchea are assured. Secondly, the countries of Indo-China and China should sign a treaty of non-aggression and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The two groups of countries, Indo-China and ASEAN, will agree on establishing a zone of peace and stability in South-East Asia, based on the ASEAN proposal for a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality and on the proposal of the Indo- Chinese countries. Thirdly, all countries must respect the sovereign right of the Kampuchean people to determine their own affairs. Fourthly, all sides should acknowledge some form of international guarantee for the agreements reached.
80.	The position of the ASEAN countries is to demand that Viet Nam unilaterally withdraw all its troops from Kampuchea, while China, Thailand and the Pol Pot clique are left free to act. This would mean that the Pol Pot clique, recognized by the United Nations as the legal Government, would have the right to reimpose its genocidal rule on the Kampuchean people. The Pol Pot clique would continue to serve as China's instrument in carrying out its hegemonist policy against the three Indo-Chinese countries. During the past 40 years in South-East Asia Thailand has always allied itself with the aggressor and its territory constantly has been used as a base for foreign intervention and aggression against the three countries of Indo-China. These three countries, Kampuchea in particular, have been the constant victims of those aggressions and interventions. The ASEAN countries demand that Kampuchea be neutralized, while Thailand and some other ASEAN countries continue freely to put themselves at the service of foreign aggression and intervention against the three Indo-Chinese countries. This would clearly tie the victim's hands while encouraging the aggressor, a completely unacceptable demand.
81.	From 1945 to 1975 foreign Powers imposed 30 years of war on the three countries of Indo-China, which were fighting for independence and freedom. But they were doomed to failure.
82.	In the past five years China, in collusion with the United States and Thailand, has forced ASEAN countries to adopt a policy of confrontation and pressure in all spheres, military, economic and diplomatic, against the three Indo-Chinese countries with the intent of imposing a solution benefiting only China, the United States, Thailand and other ASEAN countries. That policy has jeopardized peace and stability in South-East Asia and has further sharpened the memory of the crimes they have committed against the Indo-Chinese people throughout history, as well as during the past 40 years.
83.	That policy too has failed. It is now high time to end the confrontation and to settle peacefully all the differences on the basis of equality and mutual respect. The countries of Indo-China are pleased to note the gradual steps towards a dialogue which reflect the common desire to end the confrontation and to enter into negotiations. It is regrettable that only China rejects all the proposals by Viet Nam for an end to the conflict and the resumption of negotiations between the two countries.
China has also rejected the proposals of the three Indo- Chinese countries for trades of mutual non-aggression and non-interference. China has invaded Viet Nam and is still threatening to teach Viet Nam a second lesson. This is the clearest example of Chinese hegemonism. In our time all countries, large or small, are equal. There are neither master countries nor pupil countries, neither mother countries nor child countries. Such concepts belong to the realm of the pipe dreams of the former Chinese emperors.
84.	China claims that the so-called Kampuchean problem is a matter between Viet Nam and ASEAN. If that is so, why does China oppose dialogue between the ASEAN countries and those of Indo-China? If that is so, why does China consider the Kampuchean problem to be the main obstacle to the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations and demand that the issue be discussed with the Soviet Union instead of leaving it for the ASEAN and Indo-Chinese countries to discuss among themselves?
85.	On two occasions China has negotiated, first with France in 1954 for a solution to the Indo-Chinese war, at the expense of the three Indo-Chinese countries; and in 1971-72 with the United States for a solution to the Viet Nam war, again at the expense of the same three countries. At present China, pursuing its hegemonistic policy, also at the expense of the Indo-Chinese countries, seeks to negotiate a solution to the Kampuchean problem. The Soviet Union, however, has categorically rejected this attempt.
86.	At the present time there are two different approaches in the search for a solution to the South-East Asia problems, including the Kampuchean issue. They are reflected respectively in the resolutions of the United Nations and the declarations of the summit conferences of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.
87.	In the last four years, the United Nations has adopted some erroneous resolutions concerning the admission of the Pol Pot clique into the United Nations and on the so-called Kampuchean question. On the one hand, these resolutions have recognized the genocidal Pol Pot clique, and on the other have supported the erroneous positions of only one side, thus opposing the rebirth of the Kampuchean people, the interests of the Indo-Chinese countries and the cause of peace in Southeast Asia. That is why these resolutions remained a dead letter. If the United Nations persists in this erroneous course it will only become more deeply involved in the impasse over the Kampuchean issue.
88.	As a founding Member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council, China has emphatically called for the enforcement of United Nations resolutions on Kampuchea. One may recall that in 1950 China sent one million Chinese volunteers to help the Korean people fight United States aggression. The United States used its majority at the United Nations to have the General Assembly adopt resolutions 498 (V) of 1 February 1951 and resolution 500 (V) of 18 May 1951, condemning China as an aggressor in Korea and demanding the complete withdrawal of the Chinese armed forces from Korea and appealing for an embargo against the People's Republic of China. China rightly rejected these resolutions, and Viet Nam, the socialist countries and other peace-loving countries in the world firmly supported the Chinese position at that time. Now, however, having committed aggression against Viet Nam on its south-east flank through the Pol Pot clique, and along its northern frontier with a 600,000-man army, China has also had recourse, acting in connivance with the United States, to the majority at the United Nations to push through
erroneous resolutions, this time condemning the Vietnamese volunteers for having come to help the Kampuchea people. By so doing, paradoxically China has repeated at the United Nations what the United States did at one time against China itself. We find that it is improper for a great power like China to adopt such a thoughtless attitude towards an international organization such as the United Nations.
39. For their part, most of the ASEAN countries, which had participated directly or indirectly in the United States war of aggression in Viet Nam, are now working hard, together with the United States and China, to demand that Viet Nam should apply erroneous United Nations resolutions on Kampuchea. However, they are supporting the occupation and annexation of East Timor by Indonesia and that country's refusal to apply Security Council resolutions 384 (1975) and 389 (1976), as well as resolutions adopted invariably since 1975 by the General Assembly on the question of East Timor. Similarly, they have supported Indonesia's rejection of decisions taken on East Timor by various summit conferences and ministerial conferences of the non-aligned countries.
90.	While the United Nations has adopted erroneous resolutions on Kampuchea, in the last four years the movement of Non-Aligned Countries has come to adopt judicious positions with regard to the representation of Kampuchea and the situation in South-East Asia, including Kampuchea, at its Sixth Conference of Heads of State or Government, held at Havana in 1979, and at its Seventh Conference, at New Delhi in 1983, as well as at its various conferences of foreign ministers since 1981. These conferences of non-aligned countries decided to leave Kampuchea's seat vacant since 1979 and endorsed a comprehensive solution for all the questions of Southeast Asia, including that of Kampuchea. These decisions were adopted unanimously, and the two groups of countries of South-East Asia, that is ASEAN and Indo-China, welcomed them and accepted them.
91.	We now find ourselves, therefore, in the presence, on the one hand, of United Nations resolutions on Kampuchea which support one group of countries in Southeast Asia and oppose the other, and on the other hand, of the resolutions of the Non-Aligned Movement, which have been adopted by both parties. Given this situation, we feel that the only path to follow is that of helping the two groups of countries of South-East Asia to embark upon negotiations based on the principles of equality and mutual respect and on the basis of the resolutions of the Non-Aligned Movement.
92.	The international community, and in particular the peace-loving countries, and the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, which have recently thrown off the colonial yoke, place great hopes in the United Nations in the quest for peace, stability and justice. However, as the Secretary-General has rightly observed in his report on the work of the Organization, 1983 is  a frustrating year ... for those who believe that the United Nations is the best available international instrumentality to achieve these ends .
93.	These observations of the Secretary-General prove to be judicious with regard to the role played by the United Nations with regard to South-East Asia, not only in 1983 but throughout the entire history of that region in the 38 years of the Organization's existence.
94.	The realities of those 38 years have amply demonstrated the impotence of the United Nations in the face of uninterrupted wars of aggression with great bloodshed which have been waged against the three Indo-Chinese countries, even though those wars were condemned by many States Members of the United Nations.
95.	Since 1943, the majority of the Members of the United Nations have remained silent while tens of millions of tons of bombs and munitions were being dropped by the aggressors on the territories of Indo-Chinese countries. Not only were the aggressors not punished, but they are still sitting in the seats of permanent members of the Security Council while their victims remain outside the Organization and do not benefit from its protection.
96.	It should be noted that four countries, permanent members of the Security Council, have committed aggression against the three countries of Indo-China. The Soviet Union is the only permanent member of the Security Council which has, with all other peace-loving countries, invariably supported our struggle for national independence.
97.	In the last five years China has pressured the majority at the United Nations into opposing the Indo-Chinese countries. Instead of raising high the banner of the protection of human rights, the United Nations has recognized the genocidal Pol Pot criminals, the very ones who should have been judged and punished by an international court similar to the Nuremberg tribunal.
98.	Viet Nam, a Member of the United Nations, sincerely hopes that peace and stability in South-East Asia will be achieved with the active participation of the United Nations. We do not at all want to have peace and stability restored in that region without the participation of the United Nations, or even less, over the opposition of a majority of the United Nations.
99.	We do not oppose the United Nations. But there is certainly a problem, created by the United Nations itself, which is that the Organization recognizes the illegal Pol Pot clique and opposes the right to life of the more than half of the Khmer nation that managed to escape genocide. Moreover, virtually all the humanitarian assistance to Kampuchea has been going to the genocidal criminals, to help them sabotage the renaissance of the Kampuchean people.
100.	That explains why all solutions in regard to Kampuchea undertaken so far within the framework of the United Nations must, paradoxically, be based on the premise of the legality of the criminal Pol Pot clique. If the United Nations persists in its current course, the question of peace and stability in South-East Asia will be resolved outside the framework of the Organization. That will not be a happy precedent for the United Nations; far from it. Let it be recalled in this respect that the first Indo-China war, and the second, were settled outside the United Nations. In any case, the three Indo- Chinese countries highly appreciate the role and personal contributions of the Secretary-General to the promotion of understanding among the countries of the region.
10. Since the victory of the Russian Revolution, the world has witnessed the emergence of countries with differing social systems, and hundreds of countries have been freed from colonialism and have become independent. That is the law of historical development. Certain statesmen who are very fond of boasting loudly about freedom and diversity in their countries are nevertheless unable to accept diversity and freedom in the world. They would like to keep intact the old world order, and they use force towards that end.
102. Hot wars, like the Second World War and the Viet Nam war, and cold wars such as those of the fifties, sixties and eighties are all powerless to thwart these historical developments. The gunboat policy of past centuries, which has become completely anachronistic, can lead only to failure.

103.	There is only one path — the peaceful coexistence of countries with differing social regimes, respect for the right of peoples to self-determination, and the peaceful settlement of differences on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
104.	That is true of international problems as much as it is of regional problems. It is true also of the problems of South-East Asia.


25.	Mr. President, may I first sincerely congratulate you on your election to the high post of President of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly and wish you every success in this responsible work.
26.	The Mongolian delegation expresses its deep gratitude to Mr. Imre Hollai for the skilful and successful manner in which he guided the work of the last session.
27.	The Mongolian People's Republic welcomes Saint Christopher and Nevis to membership of the United Nations and wishes that country every success in its independent development.
28.	At the present session the General Assembly is once again facing the acute cardinal issues of the present day which require positive solutions. Among them the problem of preserving and strengthening world peace and security takes top priority. The threat of nuclear holocaust is not only not receding, but the reverse trend is in fact being maintained. The arms race is escalating still further and is about to reach the point of no return. The peoples of the world are deeply alarmed at these developments. Much is expected from this world forum in easing international political tension and adopting effective measures to facilitate, above all, military detente.
29.	It is imperative that a reliable barrier be erected against the slide towards the nuclear abyss. The Mongolian delegation, like many others, trusts that the work of this session will be permeated precisely with this spirit of the main requirement of this critical juncture. In this connection I should like to emphasize the urgent need for combining the efforts of all forces advocating peace, democracy and social progress in the interests of preserving life on Earth.
30.	The causes of the continued aggravation of the international atmosphere lie in the aggressive policy of imperialism, which runs counter to the interests and aspirations of all peoples. At present, progressive mankind is facing a most dangerous recurrence of such a policy. The most reactionary circles of the West, primarily the United States, bent on world domination, have set themselves the reckless goal of dealing a blow against genuine socialism and at the same time against the forces of national and social liberation as well.
31.	This can be very clearly seen in the "crusade" declared by the present United States Administration and its allies against socialism, which is being pursued everywhere. First and foremost, their main thrust is to upset the existing military and strategic parity and to achieve unilateral superiority in this field for the West. To this end programmes for increasing first-strike nuclear weapons, including space warfare systems, are being intensively carried out.
32.	Vast regions thousands of miles from the American coasts are declared zones of "vital interest" and are being turned into bases for military preparations by the United States.
33.	Slanderous propaganda about an alleged "Soviet military threat" is being intensified and adventurous provocations against the Soviet Union, like the recent sophisticated act of espionage in which a South Korean civilian plane was involved, are being increased.
34.	Hostile intrigues against socialist Cuba, Poland and the countries of Indo-China are being continued. The undeclared war against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan still continues. Acts of intervention against Nicaragua, Angola and Mozambique are being overtly committed. Attempts are being made to stifle the national liberation movements in Central America, Africa and the Middle East.
35.	Sinister acts aimed at splitting the ranks of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, the Organization of African Unity and other international organizations which advocate peace and independence and the promotion of the social progress of peoples are still being committed.
36.	Washington high-handedly encroaches upon the very foundations of normal international relations. The "show of force" and "muscle-flexing" have become common. Its weapons vocabulary is filled with the language of sanctions and diktat.
37.	The countries of the socialist community counter the imperialist policy of co- ordination with a policy of peace and equitable co-operation. Further clear evidence of this is the statement made on 28 September this year by Y. V. Andropov, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
38.	The Government of the Mongolian People's Republic welcomes Mr. Andropov's statement as confirmation of the Soviet Union's determination further to safeguard the peace and security of peoples and fully support the assessments and conclusions contained therein.
39.	The peaceful and constructive policy of the overwhelming majority of States of the world, primarily the non-aligned countries, is also an important factor opposing the imperialist policy of aggression and diktat. The positive results of the Seventh Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at New Delhi from 71. "2 March 1983, represent an important contribution to the efforts of peace-loving forces to remove the threat of war and strengthen international security. The growing anti-war, anti-nuclear movement of the peoples is playing an increasingly significant role in the struggle to curb the arms race.
40.	The results of the Madrid meeting of States which participated in the Helsinki Conference on Security and

Co-operation in Europe clearly indicate that there exists a potential for political will and common sense in international affairs. It is particularly noteworthy that 35 States, representing two different socio-political systems, have agreed in the present complex situation to continue the dialogue in order to make detente effective and even more viable. One of the key measures to be taken in this direction is to ensure the success of the Conference on Confidence- and Security-building Measures and Disarmament in Europe.
41.	The North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] plans to start deploying in December on the territories of some countries of Western Europe a new generation of American nuclear missiles, which would completely upset the existing military and strategic balance and thus generate a new round of the nuclear arms race. This plan is fraught with a great danger to peace not only for Europe but for the whole world.
42.	At the very beginning of this crucial year—on 5 January—the States parties to the Warsaw Treaty, at the meeting at Prague of their Political Consultative Committee, adopted apolitical declaration in which they presented a set of most timely and extremely important proposals on the prevention of the threat of war and the strengthening of the peace and security of nations. These proposals were later reaffirmed and further developed in the statement  of the leaders of those States at their meeting in Moscow on 28 June.
43.	Since then the Soviet Union has put forward a series of realistic and constructive proposals to curb the arms race, particularly at the ongoing Soviet-American talks at Geneva on the limitation of medium-range nuclear armaments, proposals which create a good basis for reaching mutually acceptable agreement between the parties.
44.	The Government of the Mongolian People's Republic attaches exceptional importance to these talks for the implementation of practical measures in the field of disarmament and considers that the basic prerequisite for their successful outcome is strict observance of the principle of equality and equal security. The "zero option", "interim solution" or similar pseudo-initiatives by the United States which disregard this basic principle serve simply to conceal the true designs of their proponents, who are trying to achieve military superiority over the socialist world. It is our hope that common sense and realism will ultimately prevail and that the Soviet-American talks will yield the desired results.
45.	The Government of the Mongolian People's Republic welcomes and supports the new Soviet initiatives submitted to the current session aimed at halting the arms race, in particular the nuclear arms race, achieving disarmament and strengthening trust between States.
46.	The adoption by the General Assembly of the draft declaration on the condemnation of nuclear war proposed by the Soviet Union  would be an act of paramount political significance, mobilizing world public opinion against those that are hatching plots to use nuclear weapons first.
47.	A quantitative and qualitative freeze of nuclear weapons, as proposed by the Soviet Union, would create the most favourable conditions for taking practical measures in the field of nuclear disarmament.
48.	The militarization of outer space would be the most dangerous stage of the arms race, fraught as it would be with the most unpredictable consequences for mankind. The Soviet Union's new proposal for the conclusion of a treaty on the prohibition of the use of force in outer space and from space against the earth [see -4/33/VP4] would provide a real opportunity to prevent such a course of events.
49.	The Mongolian delegation hopes that those States which these proposals primarily concern will treat them responsibly and respond to them positively.
50.	In this connection, I should like to note that the international community is fully entitled to ask why the nuclear Powers have not responded properly to the unilateral commitment by the Soviet Union not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. Why are the Western countries not responding to the initiative of the socialist States on the conclusion of a treaty, which would be open to all other countries, on the mutual non-use of military force and the maintenance of peace and relations between the States parties to the Warsaw Treaty and the States members of NATO?
51.	It is clear that a positive reaction to these peace initiatives would greatly improve the international situation.
52.	The Mongolian delegation believes it is necessary to resume the interrupted disarmament talks. It is equally imperative to begin new talks where negotiations are necessary but have not yet begun. This applies, first and foremost, to the question of the complete and general prohibition of nuclear-weapon tests.
53.	It is also important that the Committee on Disarmament achieve tangible results as soon as possible on other issues under consideration—in particular, the banning of chemical, neutron and radiological weapons, the banning of the deployment of weapons of any kind in outer space and the strengthening of security guarantees for non-nuclear Stat is.
54.	The complex and tense situation in the Asian continent is causing serious concern to the peoples of the region. The main source of instability is the growing military presence of the United States, which is stepping up its efforts to draw Asian countries into the orbit of , its military  policy. The doctrine of so-called limited nuclear war is being given a real Asian dimension by actions to deploy American nuclear missiles in certain parts of the continent. The situation has been further aggravated by the fact that, as a result of the continuing interference by the imperialists and their accomplices in the affairs of Asian peoples, no positive solution has been found for the existing explosive situations and acute problems.
55.	This applies first and foremost to the situation in the Middle East where the United States, by encouraging Israeli aggression in every possible way, is striving to impose its imperial order. It is embarking upon a direct military adventure and involving its NATO allies. These activities are in fact leading to the partition of Lebanon, turning parts of its territory into a springboard for intervention against Syria and the progressive forces of the region. The current developments in Lebanon once again confirm the complete bankruptcy of half-way policies and separate deals in solving the existing problems and testify to the imperative need for the immediate withdrawal of the troops of the aggressors from the country.
56.	Mongolia has consistently supported a comprehensive settlement for the Middle East problem. We consider that this can be facilitated by convening an international conference with the participation of all interested parties, including the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], the sole legitimate representative of the Arab people of Palestine. The Mongolian People's Republic fully supports the Geneva Declaration on Palestine' and
the Programme of Action for the Achievement of Palestinian Rights' adopted at the recent International Conference on the Question of Palestine.
57.	In South-East Asia, the imperialist and hegemonistic forces are attempting to achieve their narrow, selfish aims by inciting certain States against ethers. They are doing everything they can to block the efforts being made to create an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding among the countries of that region and are continuing to interfere in their internal affairs. These same forces are preventing the People's Republic of Kampuchea from occupying its legitimate seat at the United Nations.
58.	The Mongolian People's Republic regards the new constructive initiatives put forward by the three countries of Indo-China in their declaration dated 23 February 1983, published at the conclusion of their summit conference at Vietnams, as a timely step towards easing the tension in South-East Asia and towards the creation of the necessary conditions for changing that region into a zone of peace, stability and co-operation.
59.	The Mongolian People's Republic favours a political solution to the problem around Afghanistan on the basis of the realistic proposals made by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan on 14 May 1980s and 24 August 1981.3 A political settlement can be achieved only if all forms of interference in the internal affairs of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, including armed interference, are completely eliminated and a reliable guarantee provided that such intervention will cease and not recur in the future. We hope that the dialogue between the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and Pakistan, through the good offices of the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, will yield positive results.
60.	The Mongolian People's Republic has consistently supported the struggle of the Korean people for the peaceful and democratic reunification of their country without foreign interference. In this connection, we stress once again the need for the withdrawal of the American troops and nuclear facilities from the south of Korea.
61.	The Mongolian delegation, as before, considers that the fratricidal war between Iran and Iraq, which only plays into the hands of the imperialist forces, should be ended.
62.	Mongolia, together with all peace-loving States, supports the implementation of the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace and favours the speedy convening of an international conference to that end.
63.	The existence of a great number of sources of tension and conflicts on the vast continent of Asia makes it incumbent upon us to enforce the principle of the non- use of force as an indisputable law in relations between the States of that continent. That is what gives special significance to our proposal put forward in 1981 on the conclusion of a convention on mutual non-aggression and non-use of force in relations between the States of Asia and the Pacific/ This initiative of the Mongolian People's Republic is in keeping with the many concrete proposals and initiatives of other States directed at the solution of problems by peaceful means, at strengthening confidence and at developing good-neighbourly relations both in Asia and in other parts of the world.
64.	The improvement of relations between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China is of great importance for the strengthening of peace and security in Asia and throughout the world. It is in this context that we view the continued Soviet-Chinese contacts and consultations at the political level.
65.	We greatly appreciate the positive role of the peaceful and constructive foreign policy of the Republic of India in Asian and world affairs.
66.	The Mongolian People's Republic strongly condemns the policy of diktat, blackmail and gross interference by the United States in the internal affairs of the States of Central America and the Caribbean and its attempts to deny the peoples of that region the right to determine their own destiny.
67.	The conflict in Central America should be settled by political means. In this connection, we welcome the efforts of the countries of the Contadora Group. In our opinion, the matter would also be facilitated by discussion of this problem in the United Nations.
68.	The Mongolian people firmly support the struggle of the Namibian people and their vanguard, the South West Africa People's Organization [SPK4PO], for their freedom and independence. It favours the immediate implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions on Namibia and rejects all attempts to link the solution of this problem to other, unrelated issues.
69.	The Mongolian People's Republic supports the efforts to bring about a peaceful and just solution to the Cyprus problem that will ensure the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
70.	Mongolia fully supports the demands of the developing countries for practical measures aimed at a radical restructuring of international economic relations on a just and democratic basis. We favour the early commencement of global negotiations within the framework of the United Nations on pressing economic problems, in accordance with the decision of the General Assembly.
71.	The Mongolian People's Republic, true to the noble aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, once again declares itself in favour of enhancing the effectiveness of this authoritative international Organization as an important instrument for maintaining the peace and security of the peoples. The Mongolian delegation would like to reaffirm that it will actively cooperate, as before, with other States Members of the United Nations to promote a positive solution to the problems confronting the present session.