My opening words must be addressed to the valiant people of Angola, whose great sufferings on this sad occasion we share. I refer to the untimely death of President Agostinho Neto, who was struck down at the helm. Agostinho Neto uncontestably belongs to the line of great men of noble ideals who devoted their lives to the defence of the interests of their peoples and who, because of their thinking and their actions, have shaped history. He was a man of culture, a poet and a humanist, and his loss was painfully felt by all the people of Mali, who admired him and who were planning to welcome him happily during the official visit he was to make to Mali next November. Bowing again in reverence to his memory, we remain convinced that his Party, the MPLA, will continue to work towards the goal to which he dedicated his efforts.
44.	This year, tradition has led us to Africa—to East Africa—and more specifically to the United Republic of Tanzania, a country friendly towards my own and one whose wise policies Eire well known to all of us, serving a stable and strong nation. Apart from the honour done your people and the continent of Africa, Mr. President, the General Assembly's warm-hearted election of you to guide the work of the thirty-fourth session is without doubt a reflection of your perfect knowledge of international affairs and your own great qualifications as an enlightened diplomat, which have allowed you to preside successfully over the work of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples for almost eight years. These qualifications are highlighted by your youth, your dynamism and your affability, which were noted and acknowledged by the representatives of member States of the Organization of African Unity [OA U] when it unanimously proposed you as a candidate to assume the heavy duties of your very responsible post. I am extremely happy, laying aside all protocol formalities, to congratulate you on behalf of my delegation. We are deeply convinced that you will carry out your high duties with the ability, effectiveness, respect and careful attention which have always been the hallmarks of your personality.
45.	I have pleasure also in reiterating our appreciation of the great qualifications and vast experience of your predecessor, Mr. Indalecio Lievano, which he displayed during the course of the last session. A worthy representative of Latin America, he did honour to his continent and to his country, Colombia, and made a valuable contribution to the achievement of the noble ideals of our Organization.
46.	I am also happy to express once again our gratification at the positive way in which our indefatigable Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, has carried out his own delicate and complex mission. We are convinced that, being able to count on the constant and effective support of his competent advisers, he will continue to persevere in his efforts to safeguard the gains made by and the prestige of our Organization and the achievement of its noble objectives.
47.	As a member of the Special Committee on decolonization since its inception, my country is happy at the accession of Saint Lucia to international sovereignty and we express our happiness at seeing that new State join us here. This event is another step towards the implementation of the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and brings us closer to that universality to which our Organization is tending. In offering a cordial and warm welcome to the delegation of Saint Lucia, my delegation wishes to assure it of our complete readiness to co-operate with it in a friendly and dynamic way.
48.	The yearly meetings of the members of the inter-national community which the sessions of the General Assembly have become show without doubt the noble ambition to open the road to a collective search for ways and means to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, the primary concern of the United Nations.
49.	However, peace and security cannot be strengthened when millions upon millions of human beings are still suffering brutalizing; misery, daily humiliation, unpunished racial discrimination, anachronistic colonial exploitation and unacceptable foreign domination. The United Nations must redouble its efforts not only to settle conflicts but also to adopt applicable and urgent measures to encourage the economic and social development of all peoples.
50.	That is the only way to establish an era of true peace, and when our Charter was drafted 34 years ago its authors were aware of that, for the Preamble firmly states that the peoples of the United Nations are determined "to promote social progress and better standards of life". There can be no doubt that peace through justice is more fruitful than peace through law—a very unprofitable mission which finally exhausted the defunct League of Nations,
51.	Peace is the work of justice. Peace and justice are one. But what is justice? First and foremost justice is respect for the inalienable rights recognized as belonging to all human beings. It is that simple reality that led those who lived through the Second World War to proclaim in the Charter of our Organization their "faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small". Human rights, which cannot be dissociated from the rights of nations and peoples, are at the basis of an essential principle set forth in many provisions of our Charter and taken up in numerous resolutions of our Organization, namely, the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination.
52.	Justice, without which there can be no peace, lies first in the recognition of the right of each people to decide for themselves, but justice, the sole guarantor of true peace, also involves the recognition of economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights are so indivisible and interdependent that the authors of the Charter have assigned to our Organization the primary task of achieving "international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character". In other words, 34 years ago all was foreseen, all was said and reiterated about the need to put an end to all forms of domination.
53.	Taking together all we have done since the last session of our General Assembly, we are forced to note that many are the problems which still concern us and that there are still many to be solved. This has happened purely and simply because some of our partners who are now present in this hall of peace violate with impunity the principles of our Organization, principles according to which the rights of our peoples to self- determination and to a decent existence are still the most flouted.
54.	The right of peoples to self-determination is not only a principle set forth in the United Nations Charter; it has become the prime moving force and a general and constantly reaffirmed principle. There can be no doubt that it is a typical example of one of the imperative principles of general law. It is a norm accepted and recognized by the international community as a whole. But we are forced to note that disregard of this sacred principle of the right of peoples to self-determination is the true cause, if not the only cause, of tensions and wars that continue to contaminate international relations.
55.	In this world of upheaval and suffering Africa is still the continent in which that principle is ignored by those who do not wish to learn the lessons of history. The persistence of anachronistic colonialism in Namibia and in Zimbabwe, the tolerance shown to the contemptible system of apartheid in Azania, are the result of the refusal of the white minority in southern Africa to respect this cardinal principle of our Organization, namely the right to self-determination.
56.	The valiant people of Namibia under the leadership of its sole representative, because it is its authentic representative, SWAPO will continue their struggle for liberation and will defeat all the manoeuvres which seek to stifle its heroic struggle in the maze of a so-called internal settlement. The outcome of the struggle is known because it is a natural battle to insist upon a natural recognition of the right that belongs to the Namibian people, namely that of self-determination. The struggle of the Patriotic Front has finally led to the present negotiations in London, which have not been successful because the Ian Smith clique and its sorry puppets have resorted to sordid electoral manoeuvres and have refused to accept the prior condition of respect for a people's right to self-determination.
57.	In Azania the black majority of that African country is still being deprived of its elementary rights to dignity in its own land of Africa. Certain Western Powers, which are so prone to seek out respect for human rights throughout the world, assist and even encourage the apartheid regime to continue in its role of denying the very principle of people's right to self-determination.
58.	My country has constantly struggled for just causes. Therefore, from this rostrum we wish to reaffirm our unshakable support for these martyred brothers, with whom the people of Mali identify. We are ready to give all material, military, diplomatic and political assistance to speed the inevitable process of their liberation.
59.	This is the moment at which to pay a well-earned and solemn tribute to the brave peoples of the front-line States who, with courage, calmness and determination, are fulfilling their sacred duty together with the peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe and Azania.
60.	It is also timely to repeat the pressing appeal made recently by the Head of State of Mali, General Moussa Traore, during our national holiday and addressed to certain Western Powers who were invited:
"... once and for all to hear the anguished appeal of Africa and decide to serve the cause of justice and all mankind by helping the international community to force perfidious, arrogant but unfortunately tolerated South Africa to obey the rules".
61.	The principle of the self-determination of peoples, so clearly stated in the well-known charter of decolonization, namely resolution 1514 (XV), the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted on 14 December 1960 by our Assembly, cannot be ignored by the independent and new States of Africa, who appreciate its weight since they judiciously used it when they themselves recently achieved their own independence.
62.	It is for these reasons that at its sixteenth ordinary session the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, held in Monrovia in July, with political courage and maturity which warrants emphasis here, upheld clearly this principle of self-determination as the key to the fratricidal and distressing conflict in the Western Sahara. Colonized by Spain in the past, the population of that north western zone of our continent cannot be denied this principle, which allowed the brother people of Morocco, of Mauritania and of Algeria to recover their own dignity and freedom.
63.	Speaking of this crisis which besets an area very close to the heart of my country leads me to state the principle of self-determination and to say again that this right is not being enjoyed. The OAU clearly defined the new mission entrusted to the new Ad Hoc Committee of Heads of State on Western Sahara which, in order to improve the climate in the region, must properly define the modalities required for a final settlement on just and acceptable lines agreed to by all the interested and concerned parties, and I stress the word "all".
64.	The voice of wisdom of Africa, the voice of maturity of the leaders of the region, has always spoken out in favour of the brother peoples, with the same history, culture and primary concern for development in order to avoid the confrontations which must inevitably lead to a loss of our sovereignty through the actions of those who wish to internationalize this dispute by dramatizing it in order subsequently to play the part of arbiters.
65.	That is why my country, the Republic of Mali, wishes this General Assembly of the United Nations, while supporting the historic decision taken in Monrovia, because it is based on the principle of the right of people to self-determination, to continue to place its trust in the African process which has already proved that it can succeed as long as the Powers outside Africa keep out of the dispute.
66.	Outside of Africa there are hotbeds of war and sources of tension also deriving from the same disregard of the right of peoples to self-determination.
67.	The crisis in the Middle East and the question of Palestine, which is still its epicentre, continue to beset us because the leaders of Israel in their arrogant intransigence refuse to recognize the right to self-determination of the brave Palestinian people.
68.	Many of the aspects of the Middle East conflict have been linked to that refusal to accept that principle, respect for which would have prevented the occupation by force of Arab territories and allowed Jerusalem to achieve a status more in keeping with the glorious religious past of that historic city. The Republic of Mali is deeply attached to the search for solutions to conflicts by peaceful means and will never reject any initiative for peace. At the same time, we believe that any peace process must take into account the following facts that are germane to the conflict.
69.	First, the inalienable right of the people of Palestine to self-determination, including their right to national independence and the creation of a sovereign State, must be unambiguously accepted by all parties signatories to a peace agreement. In that regard, Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which were adopted in circumstances of a balance of power that is well known, would be enhanced as a useful source for a true peace agreement by being supplemented in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX), which recognizes the national rights of the people of Palestine.
70.	Secondly, the PLO, being recognized as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by the summit conferences of the Arab countries and the OAU, being a full-fledged member of the non- aligned movement, enjoying a privileged status at the United Nations and in the specialized agencies, being represented in more than 100 countries of the international community, and making its voice heard constantly in the public opinion of Europe and even America, must imperatively be closely associated in the search for any true peace in the Middle East.
71.	Thirdly, the total and unconditional evacuation of the Arab territories occupied by force in the course of the 1967 Israeli aggression is, in our view, a prerequisite for any true peace agreement.
72.	Fourthly, Jerusalem must be given a status more in keeping with the religious past of that Holy City, and that, too, is a basic condition for peace.
73.	Fifthly, Arab unity, which alone can guarantee that peace will be true and comprehensive, must be maintained.
74.	For these reasons Mali, which at the appropriate moment expressed its doubts regarding Israel's good faith in negotiating a true peace treaty, once more— specifically in July in Monrovia and in September in Havana—freely took the part of those who have indefatigably supported the PLO in its struggle to ensure that the Palestinian people succeed in their efforts to achieve self-determination.
75.	Those doubts regarding the true will of Israel to live in peace with its neighbours were reinforced by the unspeakable actions committed by the Israeli forces which, with full impunity and with the complicity of the international news media, worked themselves into a rage against the peaceful population of troubled Lebanon, whose southern portion—despite the unfortunately only symbolic presence of United Nations forces—is now no more than a province of Israel, which blithely continues its expansionist and annexationist policies.
76.	The other areas of tension warrant the same type of analysis: the crisis of Cyprus, the conflict of Korea and the dismemberment of South-East Asia.
77.	The problem of Cyprus comes up each year before our Assembly, which has been dealing with it since the distressing events of 15 July 1974.
78.	As a member of the contact group set up by the non-aligned movement, the Republic of Mali, after much discussion, is convinced that only the renewal of the talks between the Greek and Turkish communities, under the auspices of the Secretary-General and with the assistance of an even more limited contact group that could be set up by the present session of the General Assembly, can possibly lay the groundwork for the implementation of the 10 points contained in the agreement of 19 May 1979  and allow the people of Cyprus to exercise their right to self-determination so as to safeguard independence, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and their national unity.
79.	If the principle of self-determination of peoples were to be recognized in the case of the valiant people of Korea who for 30 years have struggled for the legitimate reunification of their occupied country under peaceful circumstances, that nation, having become a democratic and unitary State, would take its rightful place in this Organization and make a fine contribution to our work. United by its history, its geography, its civilization, its genius and the profound aspirations of its peoples, Korea must be reunified in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the agreement contained in the joint communique of North and South Korea dated 4 July 1972,  and of the important General Assembly resolution 3390 B (XXX).
80.	The worthy people of Asia have by force of arms wrested their right to self-determination from colonialism and then from imperialism, and have all acceded to international sovereignty.
81.	We in Mali had thought that the peoples which had for more than 30 years made enormous sacrifices would have turned their victories over the forces of domination and "puppetry" into an unprecedented effort to reconstruct one of the most promising areas of the globe.
82.	But recent events have led us to doubt, and almost to pessimism. Yet we still nourish the hope that the lucidity, courage and age-old wisdom which characterize those peoples and which allowed them to emerge victorious from even greater trials, will help them to solve the problems that have been created by untimely foreign interference in their affairs—which seeks to prevent them from freely achieving economic, social and cultural development.
83.	After this review of the international realities, it is inevitable that we note that all these areas of tension and of war are strictly confined to the third world. A leader of one of the great Powers even declared recently and with justification that "we live in a world without major conflicts; we live in a world where we are constantly concerned over matters of security; but we no longer fear that war is just around the corner". He added, it is true, that "... there are local conflicts, repression, troubles, but the idea of 'the next war' has somewhat evaporated". This may perhaps be the best description of the present stage of international affairs; while one part of the planet, that occupied by the so- called developed nations, enjoys the benefits of detente, the other half of the world, where "the wretched of the earth" are dying, still suffers from tensions which are cunningly maintained to ensure the continued well- being of about a quarter of the population of the world.
84.	To be sure, the present world political system is not automatically being drawn into a major conflict. To be sure, while events in Africa, in the Middle East and even in South-East Asia do create situations of confrontation, it has been possible to prevent them from setting off a world confrontation. Nevertheless, let us remember that for the first time since its appearance, mankind has found the means of self-destruction.
85.	The causes of tension, namely, the mad arms race, especially with the intensive production of nuclear weapons and the maintenance and even reinforcement of military alliances, bases and presences, remain matters of concern. Nuclear proliferation carries with it the seeds of a possible world war. The Republic of Mali, one of the founder members of the non-aligned movement, is pleased with the results, albeit modest, obtained since the tenth special session of our General Assembly, which was devoted to disarmament.
86.	Therefore we are following with interest the efforts under way within the SALT negotiations, even if progress is slow and uncertain.
87.	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.
88.	My country, the Republic of Mali, true to its policy of dynamic and intransigent non-alignment, continues and will continue to make its modest contribution to this necessary relaxation of tension in international relations. As soon as it recovered its sovereignty, the Republic of Mali demanded the evacuation of all foreign military bases on its soil, and since, aware of its national and international responsibilities, my country has signed and will sign no bilateral or multilateral agreement which does not give it a completely free hand in defence matters.
89.	It is in order to remain faithful to these cardinal principles of the non-aligned movement that my country often preaches prudence regarding regional or sub regional military projects or even defence pacts between countries that, while belonging to the same geographical area certainly, are often linked bilaterally to Powers outside Africa. We must always bear in mind that any military bloc with links, however tenuous, with Powers outside Africa can only lead to the creation of a new bloc, without taking into account the fact that a defence pact, whatever precautions are taken, is always perceived as machinery for warfare against one State or group of States.
90.	That is why the Republic of Mali, fully concerned with development, the only guarantee of stability in our States, reiterates its political and legal commitment never to attack any State, even less a neighbouring one, and to give full fraternal assistance to any State in our region which may be the victim of an attack.
91.	The right of peoples to self-determination, disarmament and detente are not the sole components of international peace and security.
92.	We have already said that peace is also and perhaps above all economic and social justice. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that peace depends largely on the solutions we find together for the serious imbalances which characterize the world economy.
93.	Poverty is not only a scandal which the third- world peoples reveal to wealthy tourists. Poverty is also a danger to the balance of the world.
94.	The reality of this poverty can be seen on all the street corners of the proletarian nations and the figures which sum up this tragic condition of the majority of mankind are so huge that they even lose all meaning. Some of these figures are really discouraging: according to the World Bank, 800 million people in the world live beneath what is termed the "line of absolute poverty"; more than 800 million human beings are illiterate; 400 million suffer from serious diseases; 500 million, or more than three quarters, suffer from chronic or permanent malnutrition; and 50 million—I repeat, 50 million— die of hunger each year, while elsewhere, in countries which get much of their riches from third- world resources, people sometimes die from overeating.
95.	These statistics are global and impersonal. Their very size helps to make them abstract, removing any elementary emotional content.
96.	However, behind the figures we should look for reality: the extreme poverty of most of them; a large proportion of illiterates; a runaway population growth with a meagre economy; malnutrition and mediocre infrastructures; a third of the children dying before the age of five; and denial of the right to education, hygiene and employment, and of every vestige of dignity. In short, they drag out their existence in shame, exploitation and degradation.
97.	This is especially revolting reality, even if it exists far from the eyes of an overfed world which wastes and destroys its surplus food. The citizens of the developed countries should know that beef cattle in a so-called developed country are better protected and better fed than peasants in Asia or Africa.
98.	For how much longer must millions die in order that thousands shall live?
99.	In the face of this situation, which it is difficult to describe, it is no longer enough to profess the correct sentiments as a sop to one's conscience.
100.	It is just as dangerous to regard this situation as a matter for academic speeches, a sterile ritual at seminars and international conferences, and a repetitive litany of statements, reports and studies made in order to gain time while hunger and injustice increase. It is intolerable and explosive that three quarters of the world's population should represent less than one fifth of the general economic weight. To be selfish or unaware in the face of such a situation is an insult not only to morality, but also and above all to the common interest of all of us.
101. Now what do we see? On 1 May 1974, at the impetus of the developing countries, our General Assembly, at its sixth special session, proclaimed in its resolution 3201 (S-VI) the urgent need to set up a "new international economic order", that is to change the institutions and laws which govern the world economy, to reorganize monetary, scientific, technical and material exchanges and the distribution of the power of the rich countries, and to create a more democratic world— in sum, to decolonize the world economy which, during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was dominated by Western Europe and its offshoots.
102.	After the last 10 years and session after session of UNCTAD and various meetings within the framework of the North-South dialogue, we are now convinced that most of the proposals concerning structural changes in the international system, as well as those put forward with a view to the taking of urgent measures on pressing problems, have unfortunately not been the subject of any agreement.
103.	What is a more significant phenomenon is the fact that stagnation, if not regression, is taking place in official development assistance. In a word, the financial flow, including bank loans, to the third world in 1978 represented some $77 billion as compared to $65 billion in 1977. It will be noted that, because of inflation, the financial flow has hardly varied from one year to the next at 1978 prices. It will be noted that the debts owed for this reason by the developing countries exceed $300 billion whereas expenditures on armaments exceed $1 billion a day while official development assistance is 20 times less than that.
104.	Such is the state of the world, an unhappy world, unhappy because it does not know where it is going and because it imagines that if it did know, it would find that it may be heading towards a catastrophe. That was a prophecy made by one of the great Powers, certainly a prophecy of doom hanging over us because it means that the problems of economic and social balance have not been solved. The needy and the wealthy have to get together to seek ways of overcoming the economic and social phenomena.
105.	The Republic of Mali considers that we should still trust in measures of concerting our efforts rather than resorting to the strategy of confrontation. We must seek to progress through peaceful negotiations. Doubtless the way will be difficult because these negotiations would have to take place among more than 150 sovereign States that are unequal throughout the range of economic and social activities. The task may appear to be a Utopian one, but it is still within the grasp of mankind.
106.	The North-South dialogue already taking place will have at least allowed contacts and helpful clarifications to be made, particularly since it has shown the lack of political will on the part of the developed countries. But in the course of these talks they will have to realize that they will be assuming a tremendous responsibility if they continue to limit themselves to empty promises. More and more, political action for change is prompting the cry for a more rational management of the world economy.
107.	In that regard, some new ideas are receiving greater attention. First of all, under-development is no longer taken to mean slow development, that is, as a phase in a process of expansion from which the countries of the third world will one day emerge. Under-development is indeed a result of development, a distortion resulting from the relations between the dominant States and the dependent States, Under-development is the result of the exchange relationship in raw materials and the consequence of the exploitation of our resources. A second, very fruitful idea is to study the fact that the life of human society largely depends on factors other than economic ones. There does not exist any human action without its spiritual dimension.
108.	These are realities that increasingly lead to a certain conduct that is seen above all in the developing countries—to fall back on their own resources and to organize the collective power of the poor countries in negotiations with the rich ones.
109.	It is, however, true that among the wealthy nations a certain slow awareness is growing of the need to overcome these economic phenomena. The most concrete expressions of this took place at the meetings of the Guadeloupe Summit, held from 4 to 6 January 1979, and of the Tokyo Economic Summit, held on 28 and 29 June 1979. If they have not yet finally understood that an economic organization on a collective basis, even if it disturbs and upsets selfish interests, would be a global system that would be more advantageous for all, they
have at least become aware that a world monetary and economic system must be established. This calls for an agreement on the part of the principal partners, an agreement that is difficult to achieve because of their great number and the extent of national self-interest.
110.	The true problem, the true debate—and it is in this Assembly that it is most appropriate that we discuss it—lies in knowing whether the necessary political conditions exist in the developed countries to allow this new strategy for development to take root and grow. There is where the most difficult task to be accomplished lies, because there are many who enjoy privileges that they wish to retain within the framework of their present anachronistic orientation. But on the other hand, they cannot blind themselves to the changes made necessary by the deadlocks and inevitable contradictions.
111.	It is up to the authorities of the developed countries to convince themselves and their peoples that they must adapt to the new state of the world, that they cannot return to the previous situation of exploitation of foreign resources and that the era of a general prosperity that was most unequally shared is definitely over.
112.	They must try to adjust to a world that is bound to arrive and not wish to stick to a world that is on its way out. Therein lies the key to all that can and should be done. We are assuredly at a cross-roads. "If one panics, one will not dare to advance and will instead retreat. If, on the contrary, one continues to advance, all of a sudden one will discover something new: a new- state of the world", a political, economic, social and cultural world that is more just and more equitable. There is still time "to make haste slowly" to save man and mankind through true justice, the only guarantor of peace.


Mr. President, we are fortunate to have a person of your wide experience, wisdom and dynamism to preside over this important session of the General Assembly. Your contribution to the work of the world Organization has been outstanding. Your country, the United Republic of Tanzania, and President Nyerere are the very embodiment of the struggle for the decolonization of third-world nations.
54.	Let me also express the deep appreciation of the Pakistan delegation to your distinguished predecessor, Ambassador Indalecio Lievano, for the most able manner in which he guided the work of the last session of the General Assembly.
55.	We warmly welcome Saint Lucia to membership in the United Nations, and we look forward to mutual co-operation with the Government and people of that new Member State.
56.	The past year has witnessed a most disturbing increase in the use of force as an instrument of policy. Armed attacks and military interventions in the internal affairs of States have become recurrent. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been uprooted from their homes and driven out of their countries.
57.	These tragic events underscore the fragility of international peace and the pervasive sense of insecurity that haunts the small and weaker nations of the world. The United Nations is the sole universal organization that can respond to such threats to peace and human tragedies.
58.	Pakistan's policies are firmly rooted in the principles of the United Nations Charter and of peaceful coexistence. Our unanimous admission to the non- aligned movement at Havana constitutes recognition of our fidelity to those principles. We condemn the use of force in international relations. We are committed to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. We remain dedicated to the right of self-determination of peoples. We have withdrawn from membership of military alliances. We are opposed to policies of intervention, domination, hegemony and spheres of influence. We have sought to build relations of friendship and co-operation with all States, great and small.
59.	With our neighbour, India, the process of normalization of relations continues. We are engaged in the enlargement of areas of co-operation on a basis of equality and mutual benefit. We are determined to seek a resolution of the dispute regarding the future of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the spirit of the Simla Agreement.  A just and peaceful solution of this dispute will usher in a new era of co-operation and amity and stability in our region.
60.	Pakistan will continue its endeavours to promote good-neighbourly relations with Afghanistan on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence, which enjoin respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, non-aggression, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in one another's internal affairs. Pakistan has no political differences with Afghanistan, but, if Afghanistan considers there is a difference, we are prepared to open a dialogue on the subject. Regrettably, the development of mutual trust such as we desire has been inhibited by the influx into Pakistan of more than 190,000 Afghan refugees. This massive influx has also imposed a heavy burden on our limited resources, but this is a burden that for humanitarian reasons we cannot shirk. The granting of refuge to this uprooted humanity is not an act of ill will towards Afghanistan. As the Secretary-General has noted in his report on the work of the Organization for this year,
"The Arusha Conference [on refugees] reaffirmed the principle that the granting of asylum is a peaceful and humanitarian act which should not be regarded as unfriendly by any State."
61.	The strengthening of the solidarity of the Islamic world is a corner-stone of our foreign policy.
62.	The victory of the Iranian revolution, leading to the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has added a new dimension to our relations with that country. The cultural and historical affinity and the community of interest existing between both countries are now reinforced by their resolve to reorder their national life in accordance with the eternal precepts of Islam.
63.	We are confident that the friendly and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Turkey will be further strengthened.
64.	We deeply cherish our abiding relationship and brotherly co-operation with Saudi Arabia in all fields. We greatly value our close ties with the Arab countries.
65.	Our relations with Bangladesh continue to develop in a spirit of cordiality and mutual goodwill.
66.	Our friendship with the People's Republic of China is based on principles and has withstood the test of time. We greatly value the generous assistance to our economic development extended by China over the years and China's resolute support for Pakistan in its determination to uphold its independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
67.	We continue to attach great importance to our bilateral relations with the United States, and express the hope that our present differences will be overcome in a spirit of goodwill, understanding and equity. We acknowledge the extensive assistance provided for many years by the United States to Pakistan.
68.	The scope of our friendly relations with the Soviet Union is being expanded continuously on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence and good- neighbourliness. Economic co-operation with the Soviet Union plays an important role in the development of our economy.
69.	Both China and the Soviet Union are Pakistan's neighbours. They are two of the greatest and most powerful States in the world. Tension between them exerts an adverse effect on the political climate of Asia and the world. We therefore welcome the dialogue between the two Governments on the normalization of their relations,
70.	The situation in the Middle East continues to pose the most serious threat to world peace and stability. A just and lasting solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict has become more imperative and urgent than ever. The Egyptian-Israeli treaty and the Camp David agreements that led to it hold no hope for the Palestinian people of deliverance from captivity, exile and oppression. They do not articulate the principle of self- determination, nor do they recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign State in their homeland.
71.	The fulfilment of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people is the central issue in the Middle East conflict. There can be no lasting and just settlement which ignores those rights, or excludes their sole legitimate representative, the PLO, from participation in any peace negotiations on an equal basis. No other party has the right to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people.
72.	The agreements do not give full expression to the cardinal principle that territory cannot be acquired by the use of force. Peace will be illusory if Israel is permitted to expand its borders beyond the lines of 5 June 1967. The expansion and consolidation of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and the authorization given to Israelis to acquire Arab land compound the injustices inflicted on the Palestinian people.
73.	Nor does the Egyptian-Israeli settlement address itself to the question of Jerusalem. The Holy City cannot be regarded as spoils of war. The relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council made this quite explicit. The Holy City of Jerusalem is an integral part of the occupied Arab territories. Israel must be required to withdraw from all those territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem, which must be returned unconditionally to Arab sovereignty. Israeli attempts to Judaize Jerusalem, to obliterate and desecrate its Islamic and Christian character, and to transform it into its capital call for universal condemnation and unrelenting opposition by the international community. The Tenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held at Fez in May, and the non-aligned Conference in Havana have condemned the Camp David agreements and the Egyptian-Israeli treaty.
74.	Having secured its southern flank, the Israeli regime has been emboldened to intensify its campaign of aggression and terror against the Palestinian and Lebanese people, including women and children, in furtherance of its designs on the unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon. We cannot but condemn such flagrant violations of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
75.	An agreement on the fundamental basis for a just settlement in the Middle East—namely, total Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories and the fulfilment of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people—already exists in the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly. That consensus has now won universal support. It is time that the Security Council acted in accordance with the will of the international community. Should the Council fail to act, Pakistan will support a call for an emergency special session of the General Assembly to consider the Palestine question and the situation in the Middle East.
76.	We welcome the Secretary-General's proposal for an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to negotiate a comprehensive and just settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
11. The situation in southern Africa is another serious threat to peace. We have noted the efforts of the Meeting of Heads of Government of Commonwealth Countries in Lusaka to promote a peaceful transfer of power to the people of Zimbabwe on the basis of genuine majority rule. Reports about progress in the negotiations currently being held in London have raised hopes of a peaceful settlement. If agreement is reached with the leaders of the Patriotic Front on an independence constitution which provides for genuine majority rule and, no less important, on transitional arrangements for the entry into force of the new constitutions, the settlement will be universally welcomed. Should this last opportunity for a peaceful settlement end in failure, the Patriotic Front will have no other option but to intensify its armed struggle for the overthrow of the puppet regime in Salisbury. The overwhelming majority of the world community must continue to lend its fullest support to the Patriotic Front until the people of Zimbabwe are totally liberated. Equally it must condemn the repeated acts of aggression by the racist minority regime against neighbouring States.
78. The expectations of an early and peaceful independence for Namibia have not been realized. The implementation of Security Council resolutions 385 (1976) and 435 (1978) has been blocked by the racist regime of South Africa. A puppet administration has been imposed on Namibia and repression unleashed against SWAPO, the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people, leaving it no alternative but to continue the armed struggle for liberation. The international community must continue to extend moral and material assistance to SWAPO. We welcome the continuing efforts of the Secretary-General to implement the plan of action approved by the Security Council for free and fair elections under the supervision and control of the United Nations to bring about the early independence of Namibia.
79.	The racist regime in Pretoria is the foundation of the structure of colonialism and racism in southern Africa. Pakistan has consistently advocated the imposition of comprehensive sanctions against South Africa to compel that country to dismantle its inhuman system of apartheid. It is deplorable that repeated votes in the Security Council should have frustrated the will of the overwhelming majority of the international community. South Africa has been further emboldened to maintain its racist policies by its trade with, and the investment, arms transfers and assistance in the development of nuclear weapons capability it receives from, its friends. But the policy of repression and the creation of bantustans will not deter the patriots of South Africa in their struggle for freedom and equality. Their just cause must and will prevail.
80.	The international community must also contribute constructively to a just and peaceful settlement of the dispute in Cyprus. We deeply appreciate the personal role of the Secretary-General, Mr. Waldheim, in promoting the 10-point agreement calling for the resumption of intercommunal talks and setting forth the basis and priorities for them. We note with regret that the talks between the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities have not yet led to any concrete results, despite the flexibility demonstrated by the Turkish Cypriot leaders. Pakistan continues to believe that a solution can be achieved only through negotiations between the two Cypriot communities on the basis of equality and within the framework of an independent, sovereign, non-aligned, bicommunal and bizonal federation of Cyprus.
81.	Pakistan consistently supported the heroic struggle of the peoples of Indo-China for national liberation, and rejoiced in their victory. It was our hope that the region would be blessed with a period of peace that would enable the countries of Indo-China to turn their energies to national reconstruction. Instead, IndoChina has been tormented by massive violations of human rights, by armed intervention to overthrow an established Government and install another regime, and by a flood of refugees seeking haven from terror and persecution. We should like to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General for convening the Geneva Meeting on Refugees and Displaced Persons in South-East Asia to seek international assistance for the refugees, and for the success which attended this great humanitarian effort.
82.	Peace and tranquillity in Indo-China, as elsewhere, cannot be based on the domination and hegemony of one regional State over its neighbours. Pakistan urges the States of Indo-China scrupulously to respect the principles of State sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in one another's internal affairs. We support the call for the withdrawal of all foreign forces to their national frontiers.
83.	The prospect of a man-made large-scale famine confronting the tortured and crucified peoples of Kampuchea fills us with horror and anguish. We strongly support the appeals made for immediate humanitarian assistance to Kampuchea, and hope that the authorities concerned will afford unhindered access and freedom of movement to international relief agencies to save as many Kampuchean lives as possible.
84.	International security will remain precarious so long as it is predicated on a balance of terror and the escalation of the arms race. As stated in paragraphs 47 and 48 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, this was devoted to disarmament:
"Nuclear weapons pose the greatest danger to mankind and to the survival of civilization....
"In the task of achieving the goals of nuclear dis-armament, all the nuclear-weapon States, in particular those among them which possess the most important nuclear arsenals, bear a special responsibility."
85.	We welcome the second SALT Treaty as a major effort at limitation and control of strategic nuclear- weapon systems, although the Treaty falls short of effecting any reductions in the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union. We recognize its importance as a step which should lead to significant reductions of, and qualitative limitations on strategic arms as a result of the third round of SALT. It would be a serious disappointment to the world if the third round of SALT negotiations did not commence without delay. We believe that other agreements on specific and high- priority measures to halt the nuclear arms race can and should be pursued concurrently with the SALT negotiations without waiting for an entire SALT package.
86.	It is a matter of profound concern that the past year has witnessed over 250 nuclear tests, almost all conducted by the two major nuclear-weapon Powers, which have the least justification for continuing to improve their nuclear weaponry. A comprehensive test- Dan treaty among the three nuclear-weapon Powers parties to the ongoing negotiations is long overdue. It is regrettable that the Committee on Disarmament could make no progress on this priority item. Furthermore, this question of a cut-off in the production of fissionable materials for weapons purposes by the two superpowers in order to halt the growth of stockpiles of nuclear weapons needs to be accorded high priority in their disarmament negotiations, if their pledge in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to achieve a cessation of the arms race is to be even partly fulfilled.
87.	Until nuclear weapons are eliminated, the nuclear-weapon Powers are under the obligation to assure the security of non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. In this connexion, Pakistan has submitted a draft international convention in the Committee on Disarmament. There is no objection in principle in the Committee to the adoption of such a convention. The non-aligned Conference in Havana has called for the conclusion of a convention during the next year. The Pakistan delegation hopes that the General Assembly will endorse this call and urge the major nuclear- weapon Powers to extend, under an international convention, unconditional guarantees against the use or threat of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear-weapon States which are not parties to the nuclear security arrangements of some nuclear-weapon Powers.
88.	Urgent measures are required to avert the ever- present danger of nuclear war. Pending the permanent prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, an agreement prohibiting the first use of these weapons of mass annihilation merits the urgent consideration of the nuclear-weapon States. An early agreement in the Vienna talks on the mutual reduction of forces and armaments in Central Europe on an acceptable balance of forces and conventional armaments in Central Europe should open the way for the prohibition of the first use of nuclear weapons.
89.	Without prejudice to the Vienna talks the convening of a European conference on disarmament, we believe, would also contribute to peace and security in the European region.
90.	In other areas as well, a regional approach to disarmament could be more efficacious in assuring the security of regional States, depriving none of a level of forces essential for its security. Pakistan, for its part, stands ready to explore the possibility of mutual reduction of forces in the regional context.
91.	Regional security against the nuclear threat can be ensured by the creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones. The concept of such a zone has been successfully translated into reality in Latin America. We are convinced that it is applicable also to other regions of the world, especially Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, for which concrete proposals have been adopted by the General Assembly. The efforts to denuclearize those three regions are closely related to the broader initiative to create a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean. This strategic area has become an arena for the rivalry and competition of the two major Powers, whose talks on the Indian Ocean are limited in scope and have faltered more than once. We hope that these talks will be resumed before long.
92.	Pakistan is concerned over the escalation of tensions and conflicts among States in the Indian Ocean region. In this context, we welcome the conclusions of the recent Meeting of the Littoral and Hinterland States of the Indian Ocean calling for: the total elimination of great-Power presence and rivalry; measures to ensure conditions of peace and security in the area; and the denuclearization of the Indian Ocean and the littoral States.
93.	The growing need for energy in all countries is an acknowledged fact, as is the increasing cost and uncertainty of the supply of fossil fuels. In the foreseeable future, nuclear power presents an inescapable choice for many developed and developing countries if they are to close the energy gap.
94.	A study was conducted by the IAEA in 1972 to estimate the power needs of Pakistan and how best those needs could be met by an optimal combination of various sources of energy. The survey concluded that Pakistan would require 27,000 megawatts of installed capacity by the year 2000 if it were to achieve the modest target of 700 kilowatt hours per capita consumption by that time. At present Pakistan's per capita consumption is only 160 kilowatt hours. For the poor countries of Africa, the figure is 300 kilowatt hours; the world average is 1,500 kilowatt hours. For the United States it is 10,000 and for the States of Western Europe it is in the range of 6,000 to 9,000 kilowatt hours. The IAEA study estimated that of the 27,000 megawatts needed by the year 2000, not more than 11,000 could be generated from the water, coal and gas resources of Pakistan; 16,000 megawatts would have to come from nuclear power.
95.	Pakistan's oil import bill has risen from $60 million in 1973 to $950 million this year, amounting to 43 per cent of our hard-currency earnings. The industrialized countries of the world spend little more than 10 percent of their foreign exchange on the importation of oil, Nuclear energy, therefore, offers the only economical and practical answer to Pakistan's energy requirements.
96.	Neither this consideration nor our assertion that our nuclear programme is devoted entirely to peaceful purposes is a new factor. We have maintained this position from the very commencement of our long quest for the acquisition of nuclear technology, and I avail myself of this opportunity to affirm once again, from this rostrum, that Pakistan's nuclear programme is designed only for peaceful purposes.
97.	Pakistan's record in the pursuit of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation is impeccable. As far back as 1968, Pakistan was instrumental in convening the Conference of Non-Nuclear-Weapon States in Geneva to complement the non-proliferation Treaty by measures to strengthen the security of the non-nuclear- weapon States against the contingency of nuclear threat or blackmail.
98.	For over a decade, Pakistan has advocated proposals for that purpose and, as I mentioned earlier, has now submitted an international convention on "negative" security assurances to non-nuclear States in the Committee on Disarmament. We have always supported the IAEA safeguard system and its application to the nuclear facilities of all non-nuclear-weapon States on a non-discriminatory basis. We have consistently pursued the establishment of a nuclear-weapon- free zone in South Asia. We have advanced the suggestion for a joint declaration by the countries of our region that would commit them to the renunciation of nuclear weapons. We have proposed reciprocal inspection of our respective nuclear facilities. We are prepared to explore with India other ways to ensure non- proliferation in our region.
99.	Notwithstanding all these positive and purposeful steps which Pakistan has either taken or initiated, it continues to be the victim of a campaign of propaganda and vilification carried out by a section of the international news media. This is a campaign which, in its inflammatory reference to an "Islamic bomb" and preparations for pre-emptive strikes against Pakistan's nuclear research and development facilities, invests the power and organization of the twentieth-century media with the crude and dangerous emotional irrationality of the Middle Ages.
100.	Regrettably, Pakistan has to cope with matters which are even more serious and substantive than that international press campaign. These are the pressures exerted upon us to impose on our peaceful but independent nuclear programme restrictions so discriminatory as to compromise our sovereignty. In this context, let me recall what President Zia-ul-Haq declared at the Havana Conference:
"Pakistan will not succumb to such pressures and propaganda. Our nuclear programme is peaceful. Pakistan's dependence on nuclear energy, in the absence of adequate fossil fuels, is inescapable. A developing country should not be required to forgo the attainment of a modicum of self-reliance in this vital field."
101.	The last three decades have witnessed a revolutionary upsurge for political independence and national liberation among the peoples of the third world. Yet the bonds of economic dependence and exploitation built through centuries of colonialism remain to be broken and replaced by an equitable set of relations between the developed and the developing countries.
102.	The contradictions between the extremes of affluence and poverty, between the imperatives of interdependence and the reality of dependence, have produced a series of economic crises which today threaten the world economy with disorder and disintegration. Despite the consensus reached in the United Nations for the establishment of the New International Economic Order, most of the developed countries have yet to accept the practical implications of equity in international economic relations. Their policies towards the third world have been characterized by the pursuit of protectionism, parsimony in the extension of financial assistance, reluctance to resolve the problems of external debt, unwillingness to effect industrial redeployment, and restraints on the transfer of technology. In almost all international forums, the North-South dialogue is in a state of impasse.
103.	The proposal of the non-aligned countries at the Havana Conference for the resumption of global negotiations, within the United Nations, on the key issues of raw materials, development, finance and energy, is a timely initiative for genuine progress towards a new and equitable world economic order. We hope that the developed countries will respond positively to that proposal.
104.	It is our expectation that such global negotiations will be initiated by the Assembly at its special session next year and will lead, within a specific period of time, to significant progress, including the conclusion of agreements for a substantially increased and automatic flow of resources to developing countries; the progressive and full liberalization of market access for the exports of developing countries; the adoption of comprehensive adjustment policies by the industrialized countries to eliminate support for their non-competitive industries; monetary reform to ensure international control of world liquidity; the establishment of a link between the creation of special drawing rights and development assistance; and the democratization of international economic decision-making.
105.	Pakistan hopes that the development strategy for the next decade will achieve the aims of the New International Economic Order. Such new concepts as a "basic needs strategy", differentiation, graduation and "organized trade" should not divert the international community from this central goal. The developing countries accept the need for a more self-reliant pattern of development with the aim of expanding domestic markets through improved distribution in order to ameliorate mass poverty and provide for the essential needs of their peoples. But this does not absolve the developed countries of their responsibility to make their full contribution to international development cooperation, nor does it render the need to restructure international economic relations any less urgent and imperative.
106.	Even as we debate the problem of poverty, a large number of developing countries are confronted with an economic predicament that can only be described as desperate. Their economies are stagnant; their trade deficits are almost as large as their entire export earnings; they are burdened with massive and mounting external debt; their development programmes are in disarray; they are hard-pressed to provide even basic necessities to their peoples. This situation is the consequence of the persistent deterioration in their terms of trade, which has been further exacerbated by the paucity of financial assistance, the unequal distribution of international liquidity, imported inflation and the revaluation in the price of energy. Indeed, these countries are the primary victims of the current economic crisis.
107.	Their plight cannot be redressed by isolated responses; it cannot await consensus on the international development strategy or a break-through in global negotiations. Their situation demands immediate and urgent action—a response of solidarity from the developed countries as well as from developing countries that are in a position to provide assistance; it demands an international response commensurate with the magnitude and gravity of these immediate problems.
108.	Pakistan would propose that this Assembly reach agreement on an immediate action plan designed specifically to redress the economic situation of the developing countries most seriously affected by the world economic crisis. To this end, we call upon the developed countries to double the levels of their official development assistance to the poorer countries in the next two years and provide them general debt relief. We call on the industrialized nations to lift immediately the discriminatory barriers against the exports of those developing countries which face the largest trade deficits. We call upon the IMF to agree to increased allocations of special drawing rights to enable the poorest nations to meet part of their payments. We ask multilateral institutions to provide sufficient resources on favourable terms to enable those countries to purchase vital capital goods and to implement their ongoing development projects. We urge all countries in a position to do so to be more forthcoming in their assistance to these developing countries.
109.	A co-operative endeavour to relieve the grave economic problems in the poorer developing countries, to revive economic activity in the third world and to introduce equity in international economic relations is not only desirable but imperative for the prosperity and well-being of all nations. This simple truth with all-its implications will, I am sure, come to be accepted by the developed nations and will provide a new impetus to the North-South dialogue.
110.	Our efforts within the United Nations to build a world order based on peace, justice and progress must be pursued with renewed vigour and urgency. The present world situation, where the security of nations is so tenuously maintained and so constantly threatened, where poverty and the deprivation of the majority of mankind stand in stark contrast to the affluence and the conspicuous consumption of the minority, where technology has penetrated the depths of the seas and the immensity of space but has failed to eradicate hunger and sickness, where $1 billion are daily spent on the engines of destruction while a fraction of this sum cannot be found for human welfare—such a situation cannot be allowed to continue. We must bridge the chasm between our espousal of the ideal of justice and equality, and the pursuit of power and greed. We must translate our commitment to a new and equitable structure of international relations into concrete acts of solidarity with and support for those peoples striving for a life of human dignity.
111.	The people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, inspired by the precepts and spirit of Islam, which teaches that all mankind is one, are deeply committed to a human solidarity transcending differences of caste, colour, creed or political opinion. Our solidarity and co-operation on a universal basis, are indispensable conditions for the realization of a world order based on peace, justice and progress for all States and all peoples.


The sole aim of our General Assembly is to serve peace, and yet session after session here we note the consequences of disaster. To us, as leaders, one year means a great deal of diplomatic activity. But for some peoples one year means a great deal of suffering. There are 1 million refugees and 250,000 victims of war, and some 15 of our Member States are embroiled in armed conflicts.
86.	However, serious and distressing though these conflicts may be none of them has so far jeopardized the global peace that the world has known since 1945. It is an inadequate peace to be sure, but it is peace just the same. Without it, all efforts towards progress would be destroyed in the general calamity. This peace is not based on terror and immobility. Despite its shortcomings and its failures, our world has made more progress during the final third of this century than it did during the three preceding centuries. I shall take just three examples. The old nations of Europe have been able to forget their age-old conflicts and to join together in a process of reconciliation; that vast country China, which had so long been kept aside, has taken its rightful place once more in the community of nations; and, lastly, more than 100 States have become independent and are now able to make their voices heard in this forum, which has truly become a world forum.
87.	These examples prove mankind's ability to change. They are evidence of the fact that catastrophes are not inevitable as long as human will is exerted.
88.	The community of nations has been able to demonstrate its unanimity on one point, a negative point to be sure but one that will henceforth be a fact of history, I am referring to the avoidance of a world war for more than 30 years. Why not go even further now, and express that unanimity in a positive manner by uniting our efforts against the other threats to peace?
89.	Thirty years without a general war: we have shown that that is possible. Thirty, years to ensure the survival of humanity: that is the very concrete problem that faces us, because between now and the year 2000 there will be another 2 billion human beings to feed — 2 billion. In 1925, that was the entire world population.
90.	If a world divided into antagonistic blocs quarrels over limited resources instead of uniting to develop them, living in interdependence will pose a threat. Instead, the world should organize its interdependence into solidarity so as to enable it to achieve greater security and genuine organization, which are the three components of true peace.
91.	That is why I shall discuss these three points in turn: first, a world of greater solidarity, one that will succeed in settling for the benefit of everyone the two problems on which the future of each of our peoples depends—poverty and energy; secondly, a more secure world that will undertake disarmament; and, thirdly, a better organized and a more human world, in which, alongside an Organization such as ours, whose role can only grow, the new kinds of regional solidarity will become organized.
92.	Concerning a world of greater solidarity, without for one moment forgetting the moral duty that gives solidarity its full significance, I intend to show that solidarity is also essential for the survival of mankind, for in fact we shall survive only if we resolve two problems—poverty and energy. Poverty is the failure of progress and hence the failure of us all. Energy is the key to progress and therefore an imperative common to us all.
93.	It is difficult to describe the scourge of poverty without lapsing into abstract figures and the demagoguery of sentimental platitudes. And yet we have to acknowledge an obvious fact that our minds reject: poverty is not on the decline. Development has succeeded in keeping it in check, but not in reducing it. The poorest regions are becoming poorer still. A half billion souls are going hungry. At least a half billion can neither read nor write. More than 1 billion have access neither to drinkable water nor to basic medical care. Poverty has not relinquished its hold. It scoffs at the modern world. It is no longer the humble, silent poverty that once escorted mankind throughout its history and all over the globe. It has borrowed from the modern world its violence, its clamour and its great surges. The poverty of shanty towns, the poverty of homeless people, the poverty of frustration that is at least as great as hunger—that is the face of the world, and we must not avert our eyes from it.
94.	We must, on the contrary, confront this poverty, and together we must all declare war on it on several fronts. Concerning the food front, a major rural development effort at the national and international levels must take up where the 'green revolution'' of the 1960s left off so as to improve the growth rate of agricultural production, especially in low-income countries in Asia and Africa. In the field of unemployment, a massive drive to create productive jobs—550 million between now and the year 2000, according to the World Bank, is crucial to the battle against poverty. In the matter of financing, all countries have a stake in preventing the constraints of financing from halting the progress happily already under way towards world economic integration. Now, the debts of the developing countries have more than doubled since 1974 and at this point debt-servicing costs are increasing faster than the debts themselves. France will therefore support measures designed to augment the financing capacities of the IMF regarding balance-of-payments adjustments, in the hope that the action taken will be specifically directed to the needs of the most impoverished countries. France also advocates greater efforts on behalf of those countries in the area of public development aid. I should like to recall that France has cancelled the debts owed to it by some countries.
95.	All countries should contribute to this aid— which, by the way, does not exempt us from giving our help to other developing countries—in particular by opening their borders to manufactured products from the most deprived countries; by allowing them access to natural resources, especially those from the sea; and, lastly, by increasing the volume of multilateral aid. France for its part has decided to double its contribution to UNDP between now and 1981, with an increase of more than 50 percent this year.
96.	As to energy, the anguish of tomorrow's world will arise from the sudden changes which we now see threatening us: the population explosion and the scarcity of resources, which would jeopardize growth and therefore the increase needed in employment. There will be neither growth nor new jobs without more energy, even if the advancement of technology and organization were to make growth possible at a rate faster than that of the increase in energy needs.
97.	True, and we all know this full well, countries in the different categories do not have the same interests or make the same analyses of this energy problem. To solve it, let us begin by understanding one another and accepting the validity of our respective concerns.
98.	The producer countries are legitimately concerned with preparing for their future development and therefore with securing the foundations of their future growth in a prosperous economic climate by managing carefully their non-renewable resources and maintaining the value of their assets.
99.	The industrialized countries, for whom oil is still a basic resource, want the volume and price of supplies to remain stable, so that they can guarantee the growth, which, whatever happens, is necessary to the world economic balance.
100.	The developing countries that do not produce oil, and especially the most impoverished ones, are in a paradoxical position: they feel the effects of tensions in the oil market more severely than others, even though the place they occupy in that market is small. Nevertheless, their economies are more seriously affected by increases in oil prices.
101.	We must, I affirm, understand each other and move closer to each other's positions. There is nothing impossible about the quest for coherence among the policies of the three categories of country. Only that quest can help us to pass from the interdependence to which we are subject, to an organized solidarity.
102.	Let me say unequivocally that it is up to the industrialized countries to take the initiative in instituting stricter policies, because it is they who are the largest consumers. The decisions taken in Tokyo last June were a major turning-point. I emphasize that they were based on an initiative of the European Economic Community, which thereby in the circumstances demonstrated its sense of economic responsibility at the world level. The pledges made there to set ceilings on oil imports are significant in two important ways.
103.	On the one hand, they would break the link be-tween the pursuit of economic growth by the industrialized countries and the growth of oil imports. Sustained but sober growth on the part of the industrialized countries will henceforth be fuelled by energy sources other than oil.
104.	On the other hand, these pledges indicate that the oil energy so indispensable to the developing countries will be available for their use.
105.	France, for its part, has committed itself to a policy of conservation of energy and development of new energy sources that will enable it, I assure you; to achieve the goals it has set itself.
106.	I am confident that the oil-producing countries recognize the importance of this major change. Once the industrialized countries actually set out on the path of controlling their energy imports, the producer countries will be able to take into consideration the effects which their decisions have on the world economy, as they manage their resources. Any breakdown in supply, any reassessment of the price levels reached to date, would have disastrous consequences for the world economy.
107.	But oil is not solely the concern of the oil- producing and industrialized countries. In the interests of solidarity, the new energy needs of the developing countries must be met. To that end, a world programme of investment is indispensable. France supports the World Bank's plans in that regard, but feels that they should be further expanded. France is already making a substantial effort to provide technical assistance in regard to oil.
108.	Finally, we must work together more closely to ensure that the decisions made by the different parties are consistent. The 1981 United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy will assuredly bring progress in an area as yet largely unexplored, but one that is of capital importance for the future.
109.	We must do more. In this regard, France has taken note with interest of the proposal made by the Group of 77 to start new, comprehensive talks within the framework of the United Nations.
110.	Concerning a world of greater solidarity, and, at the same time, a more secure world, let us not deceive ourselves. To reduce the poverty of the poorest and to overcome the energy crisis, a conceited effort is needed. This will not be readily agreed to and will not produce results except in a climate of security and trust. When suspicion, mistrust and fear reign, we immediately see hallowed self-interests placed first, before all other considerations. When armed conflicts break out, the work of several years is reduced to nothing in a few days.
111.	We shall build a world of greater solidarity only if we work together to make it more secure.
112.	 That is why France sets such great value on the progress of detente and has made it one of the major and permanent lines of its policy. It welcomes, in this respect, the favourable development of its relations with the Soviet Union and with the other socialist countries in Europe, especially Poland.
113.	In Europe, detente has not only made it possible to defuse the most visible causes of confrontation. It has paved the way for dialogue and co-operation. It has made, and is continuing to make, an essential contribution to world peace.
114.	I mention the progress of detente, not to encourage complacency and passiveness, but rather to urge new efforts to expand detente and make its effects felt more deeply. Detente has probably been a contributing factor in containing flash-points all over the world, although it has not yet succeeded in dousing them completely. It has certainly put a brake on the excessive Build-up of arms, although it has not stopped it altogether.
115.	It is time for us to attack these two problems. The results achieved give us the means; they therefore also show us our duty.
116.	A review of the situations of crisis and tension that persist in the world shows that these fall into two categories. Some situations are linked to the process of decolonization, of which they are an anachronistic survival. This is the case with Namibia and Rhodesia. Others result from military faits accomplis and should
be neither endorsed by the peoples concerned nor recognized by the international community. I refer to the Middle East and to South-East Asia. However, in all these instances, the crisis situation can be attributed to the fact that deeply rooted realities are being ignored or misperceived; that needed changes—needed because they are natural and legitimate—are being opposed or blocked; and that in some quarters the mistaken conviction that 'might is right" still persists.
117.	In Namibia as in Rhodesia, the deep-seated reality is the legitimate aspiration of the peoples involved to accede to genuine and internationally recognized independence. In this respect, hopeful signs are beginning to emerge. It is up to us to encourage them. For this reason, France has welcomed the agreement reached at the Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in Lusaka in August and places its hopes in the success of the talks that have opened in London under the aegis of the United Kingdom Government. For this reason also, in the case of Namibia France is participating actively—together with four other States and in close liaison with the Secretary- General of our Organization—in the five-Power initiative  with a view to achieving a solution for that territory that is consistent with the principles of our Charter.
118.	Turning to the Middle East, I come to a conflict that is quite different. It is as old as our Organization. Thirty years have elapsed, and with them how many hopes have gone unfulfilled and how many paths have been explored in vain in an effort to find the key to peace.
119.	My country makes no claim here to define a new framework for negotiation or to devise, in the wake of so many others, some new procedural skill. That is not where the problem lies. There has been too much passion and too much suffering for it to be possible to hope to be able to build peace on ambiguities.
120.	Here again, what is needed is recognition of the realities instead of escape from them, tackling the problems instead of evading them.
121.	The realities in this case are: the right of the Arab States to recover their territorial integrity; the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland; and the right of all the States in the area, the Arab States as well as the State of Israel, to live in peace within secure, recognized and guaranteed boundaries.
122.	These three realities form a whole. They cannot be dissociated without being forsworn; they are valid for all the parties concerned, including—as the nine countries members of the European Economic Com-munity have just stressed—the PLO.
123.	This presupposes that both sides at last make the effort to look the facts in the face; these two great peoples, the people of Israel and the Palestinian people, will not be able to postpone indefinitely the moment when they recognize one another. It will be necessary to enlarge the dialogue, to cease insisting on exclusive rights; all the protagonists must agree to talk to each other. Certain indications lead us to hope that the time
is approaching. France is following the situation attentively and will make every effort to see these signs multiplied, because they point towards the only real path of peace.
124.	In speaking of peace in this area, I also have in mind Lebanon, which has so many ties to my own country. In recent months, Lebanon has been the object of attacks whose repetitive and excessive nature prompted the Security Council to convene. France condemns these attacks that strike at the unity and independence, as well as the territorial integrity, of Lebanon, They affect the Force sent by the United Nations to the southern part of the country; they put in jeopardy the very existence of one of our Organization's Member States.
125.	Lastly, South-East Asia and, more specifically, the situation in Cambodia. Last year, at this very rostrum my predecessor stressed the grave dangers of the situation. The events of the past 12 months have unfortunately confirmed our fears.
126.	The oppression and bloodshed of an inhuman regime have been superseded by the tragedy of a foreign invasion. The Indo-Chinese peninsula has once again been thrust into a state of war.
127.	My Government asked at the time, together with others, for the withdrawal of the forces to the international boundaries they had crossed; I note that the withdrawal has not been general.
128.	France cannot acquiesce in Cambodia's becoming a prize in and an arena for a confrontation that dwarfs it and that is in fact utterly alien to it. Cambodia has the right, like any other State, to see its independence and integrity respected. Its people, whose very existence is threatened even as I speak, has the right to live and to determine its destiny as a sovereign nation in peace and friendship with all its neighbours by acquiring a Government representative of the different political tendencies in the country. The exercise of its rights is indispensable to the reconstruction of this ravaged country and to the safeguarding of peace in the region. It is not compatible with the presence of a foreign army on its soil.
129.	Flash-points ignite violence in the world, but it is the incredible build-up of arms that could at any moment transform a local explosion into one of cataclysmic proportions. If we want our world to be more secure, it is not enough to defuse the causes of violence. We still have to control the inordinate quantity of instruments of violence; in other words, we must aim for genuine disarmament.
130.	All of us here know how arduous the task is, and we are familiar with the consistent way in which technological progress and the complicated mesh of mistrust can thwart the aspirations of peoples and the intentions of Governments.
131.	France for its part is too old a nation to imagine that disarmament is easy. But it believes too much in the future of humanity to think disarmament is impossible. Rejecting illusion, which is misleading, and resignation, which leads to despair, France is convinced that concrete progress can be made, providing that these three conditions are fulfilled: clarity and realism in objectives; continuity in action; imagination in initiatives.
132.	The President of the French Republic sought to meet the first of these conditions when he came here last year to set forth the main lines of the new approach France is proposing.
133.	First, there is the right of each State to security. This right is the corollary, in disarmament terms, of what is, in the context of detente, the right of each State in sovereignty to decide on its internal options and its international alliances.
134.	Secondly, there is the idea that disarmament is first and foremost a universal problem: no State, no group of States, may arrogate to itself the right to determine the rules unilaterally and for all. The entire international community must share in the implementation, benefits and controls of disarmament.
135.	Finally, there is the need to bear in mind what I will call the "geography of security". The regional level would in fact be the easiest level at which to make concrete progress in this area.
136.	Once these principles have been accepted, they still must be put into practice, and this is where continuity of action enters the picture.
137.	Since the tenth special session was held in the spring of 1978, some progress has been made. We must not, however, relax our efforts.
138.	The new Committee on Disarmament, which together with others we helped to establish, has begun its work. The results of the first session show that broader and more equitable participation aid the progress of the discussion where bilateral debates might lead the talks to become bogged down. At this point we should take care not to disappoint the expectations that have been expressed. France for its part will work actively in the Committee in the hope of reaching concrete results at the next session, particularly in the area of chemical weapons.
139.	The United States and the Soviet Union have signed the second SALT agreement.  France is well aware of the importance of the step that has recently been taken. It considers the agreement to be balanced as a whole and hopes that it will enter into force soon. The fact remains that even with this agreement we are still only at the preface to true disarmament. The level of nuclear weapons held by the two signatory Powers is not only high now, it is to go still higher in the next few years. The future negotiations, for which the second round of SALT has paved the way, will, I hope, bring this level down very substantially. As for France, it would take appropriate action on the basis of such reductions only if there were a change in the extent of the disparity persisting between those two arsenals and its own arsenal, which France keeps at its disposal to ensure the security and credibility of its deterrent.
140.	In Europe, finally, France has proposed the convening of a conference on disarmament. By linking confidence-building measures and effective disarmament, by making a distinction between arms that serve deterrence and security and those that might fuel threats and intimidation, by defining a cohesive and significant geographical framework, its proposal aims to take into account the specific facts of Europe's situation. The positive reactions that have been forthcoming from various quarters have strengthened our conviction that this approach corresponds both to a real need and to a real possibility, thus encouraging us to proceed.
141.	In a field as difficult as that of disarmament, determination needs the help of imagination.
142.	With a view to stimulating reflection and imagination, we proposed the founding of an international disarmament institute. At the tenth special session, we also advocated that the most modern technology be made available to the international community by proposing the establishment of an international satellite monitoring agency. In both cases, we would be mobilizing science and scientists for the cause of disarmament.
143.	To this same end I should like to announce today that France is proposing to organize an international symposium in Paris on the theme 'Science for disarmament' This symposium, which could serve as a kind of preface to the work of the institute, would seek to involve the scientific community more closely with disarmament by demanding an intellectual and moral contribution from it.
144.	A world of greater solidarity, a more secure world, but also a more organized world is what we seek.
145.	The world we live in, if we reflect upon it, has two essential characteristics: diversity and disparity. There is diversity in political regimes, philosophical and religious creeds and national traditions and cultures. The disparities lie in power, wealth and access to knowledge.
146.	Diversity brings people closer together because it encourages them to participate in dialogues and ex-changes. Disparities separate them, on the contrary, because they divide people and set them one against the other.
147.	How can we act to preserve the former and to eliminate the latter?
148.	Allow me, as a European, to draw upon my experience. Thirty years ago the nations of Europe were emerging from world conflict, drained and in ruins. Where they had once been among the most powerful and wealthy of nations, now they did not even have the resources needed to set themselves back on their feet.
149.	Thirty years have gone by. Now those same nations have regained their place in the world thanks to the aid they received, thanks to their own efforts, but thanks also to the close co-operation they forged among themselves. Without relinquishing their identities or compromising their independence, they have formed a Community which, by the very fact that it exists and that it has demonstrated its ability to act, today constitutes an essential element in international equilibrium.
150.	There may have been fear in some quarters that the Europe of six, and later nine, countries—and undoubtedly tomorrow of twelve—by organizing itself, would become inward-looking. The experience of what is now more than 20 years has shown the opposite: among groups of comparable size, the European Community is without a doubt the most open to the world. This applies equally to its trade, to its part in aid for development and to its contribution to solving major world problems. Nor is it an accident that detente, throughout the entire European continent, has advanced at the same pace as has the organization of Western Europe.
151.	By increasing their co-operation and strengthening their cohesion, the countries of Europe have not created a bloc. Quite the contrary; they have introduced a new type of regional grouping. Because this co-operation is founded on the natural affinities of history, geography, culture and human values, it protects diversity and helps to attenuate disparities.
152.	The case of Europe is significant, it seems to me, but it is not an isolated case and is becoming less and less unique. Everywhere we are witnessing the advance of regional solidarity. There is growing vitality at the level of continents and subcontinents in geographically oriented organizations such as the Organization of American States, the OAU, the Andean Group and the Association of South-East Asian Nations. The phenomenon is too widespread for it not to be a response to a universally felt need. In my opinion, it reflects an aspiration on the part of each of our nations to reconcile two fundamental requirements—the need to assert themselves without becoming isolated and the need to participate without becoming subservient.
153.	The pluralistic, multipolar world that this aspiration heralds will be different from the world of yesterday—profoundly so. The conviction of France is that it will be a better world. So long as there are only two camps, the gains of one will inevitably appear to be the losses of the other. The logic of their relationships is confrontation—the only possible compromise is the status quo, in other words, immobility. In contrast to this, the multiplication of poles allows for more flexibility in the general equilibrium. It encourages necessary changes and makes it easier to resolve local conflicts. The positive role played by the Organization of American States in the evolution of events in Nicaragua and the decisive assistance provided by the African States in achieving a peaceful solution of the problem of Chad are telling examples.
154.	The recent events in central Africa provide a new and clear illustration of this. It was the Africans themselves who, by the decisions made at the Kigali conference, substantiated and condemned the atrocities perpetrated. It was the former President of the Central African Republic, the Prime Minister in office and other leaders who took the initiative of liberating their country. France, which had suspended its aid as soon as the Committee of African Magistrates presented its conclusions, gave an affirmative response to the request made of it on the spot by the new authorities. Thus it was possible to eliminate a tyrannical rule without bloodshed.
155.	There need be no fear that the strengthening of these regional organizations is likely to infringe on either the individual identities of national sovereignties to which we are attached or the universal nature of the international community. Quite the opposite; it cannot fail to protect the one and to enrich the other.
156.	This can be seen quite clearly, even here within our Organization. The existence of regional groupings has never prevented us from examining the great questions of our time. Indeed, it has made such examination easier and more productive.
157.	It is indeed characteristic of regional organizations that there is no better way of affirming their identity than through dialogue and co-operation,
158.	It is in order to take into account this new dimension of today's world that France has renewed its interest in the Latin American continent and, on this subject, I should like to recall the two visits made by Mr. Giscard d'Estaing to Brazil and to Mexico respectively. It was with this same idea in mind, too, that the French Head of State put forward the concept of a "trialogue" between Europe, Africa and the Arab countries. By giving substance to this project, these three groups will not only underline the obvious complementaries that unite them; they will also place them at the service of progress and peace. They will help to construct the foundations of a more balanced, more open world, where the old temptations of hegemony will have made way for the call to solidarity.
159.	The world of greater solidarity, security and organization that France hopes to see and which it is working to bring into being will have meaning only if it serves mankind, its dignity and its rights.
160.	Owing to the universality of our Organization and to the legitimacy conferred upon it by the membership of almost all nations, it has in this respect a crucial role to play. Our Organization is the expression of the universal conscience and, at the same time, of the diversity of cultures. More than ever, the Charter is the indispensable reference that will allow us to live together better and to render more effective and more widespread the dignity of man that it proclaims and that is defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The dignity of man must be expressed through the equality of all. Together with the entire international community, we condemn regimes that are founded on racial discrimination, such as apartheid.
161.	The United Nations is a decisive safeguard for the peace of the world and for the dignity of the individual. It has shown this in a great many situations, whether by recalling the principles and spelling out the law or through its actions and calls for the assistance of States. In the tragedy of the South-East Asian refugees, for example, our Organization, by acting in accordance with its peaceful and humanitarian purpose, has fulfilled its unique role. France, as is well known, has given the Organization its full assistance. As a country of asylum and refuge, it has opened its doors wide to those who have been exiled and will continue to receive all those to whom it is able to offer a future commensurate with their hopes.
162.	The efforts of our Organization and of States to respond to urgent and desperate situations should not, however, make us forget the silent hope of millions of individuals imprisoned by poverty. No man, no leader, can ever rest easy so long as suffering, fear and contempt for the law reign on this earth. This is one battle that we should all wage together, regardless of our differences, for it is the battle for peace on earth.