First, may I, Mr. President, express to you the congratulations of the Albanian delegation on your election as President of this session of the General Assembly.
125.	The delegation of the People's Republic of Albania, like most peace-loving Member States, would have wished to see during the period since the last session of the General Assembly of the United Nations important steps taken towards the creation of a sound and stable international situation, towards the restoration and respect of the sovereign rights of peoples. But the real state of affairs does not allow us to conclude that this wish has been fulfilled.
126.	In international relations we observe new tensions caused by the violation of democratic principles and norms which govern relations among States. The American aggression in VietNam and the Israeli imperialist aggression in the Middle East go on. Many important problems of our time remain pending. The two great imperialist Powers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, have launched a new and general attack against the interests of sovereign peoples and States. The world continues to live in the fear of the threat and the danger coming from those two powers.
127.	Today, everyone can easily understand that the United States and the Soviet Union have intensified and perfected their policy of interference and hegemony and have raised to a high level the co-ordination of their concrete activities against the freedom and independence of peoples. Those two Powers are in competition and rivalry for the division of the world into zones of influence and the domination of the world.
128.	All Member States have witnessed the maneuvers of the two super-Powers to oppose, by every means, the efforts of peace-loving peoples and countries striving to strengthen and defend their independence and national sovereignty. But no publicity, no pacifist demeanor, no so-called "great acts" for the so-called "safeguard of peace" and "progress of mankind" can mask their well-known imperialist policy and the true designs they pursue separately or in common. We now see their open aggressiveness, their arrogance; everywhere we see their thirst for absolute power over the whole world.
129.	Of course, as was said by the leader of the Albanian people, Enver Hoxha:
"It would be inconceivable and unrealistic to see in the Soviet-American alliance only the rapprochement and co-operation of the two super-Powers, their common actions and interests. In view of their imperialist character, the United States and the revisionist Soviet Union are also torn asunder by conflicts, rivalries and deep contradictions, which prevent them from acting always in harmony and in complete unity. The existence and aggravation of these contradictions are inherent in the very foundation of that alliance, the capitalist-socialist system of the two countries, and their imperialist designs. Preparing for war, the two parties also plan to devour one another."
130.	But it is also true that peoples, especially small peoples, would run grave risks if they nourished the hope that one of the two great imperialist Powers could take them under its protection. That "protection" thus offered is in fact nothing but the integration of these peoples into the zones of influence of these two super-Powers, their domination and their exploitation by the latter.
131.	The representatives of the two super-Powers present here have tried to convince us that the talks held between them and the agreements concluded during this year rendered a great service to the world and to the whole of mankind, and they presented the situation as if Member States should now feel more reassured than in the past, and so forth. This is nothing but a fiction, and we firmly reject it.
132.	During these talks decisions were taken which impinge upon the vital interests of the peoples of the world. Zones of influence have been confirmed and delimited. Important bargaining has taken place, and this to the prejudice of Viet-Nam, the Arab countries, the European countries and so on. Matters must be judged on the basis of facts, and the facts bear witness to the intensification of the aggressive global strategy of these two super-Powers, which is now carried out in the open, the preparation of new plans and dangerous conspiracies against the peoples and peace in the world.
133.	At the present time, both the United States and the Soviet Union are trying to impose the idea that the two super-Powers would be incontrovertible guarantors of peace in the world and arbiters without appeal in international relations, that peoples should sacrifice their national interests for the maintenance of the balance between the two great Powers, upon which the balance of our planet is in turn predicated. These two Powers claim that the destinies of the world, of peace and of international security entirely depend upon them and upon the development of their reciprocal relations and that the improvement or the deterioration of the climate of Soviet-American relations conditions the climate of the whole globe and so on. It has become the practice for the two super-Powers to discuss important international problems directly between themselves and to decide them in accordance with their hegemonic interests without consulting or informing anyone not even their closest allies. Have not their Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and their negotiations on other delicate problems revealed this truth? Nobody claims to know all that is being hatched during these ultra-secret negotiations, but everybody knows full well that not only is a common armaments policy determined in these talks but also a common line and attitude towards others, in all fields and on all matters.
134.	Through their policy of hegemony, the American and Soviet imperialists, not content with attempting to create in others a psychosis of fear and of submission to their potential, strength, are also trying openly to deprive peace-loving countries of the possibility of taking part in the solution of problems of concern and interest to the whole world, and to induce these countries to allow the two great Powers to decide behind their backs, in particular behind the backs of the smallest, even questions of direct concern to them. In short, they claim that peoples should abandon their supreme, sovereign rights to the "two great Powers". But the peace-loving peoples and countries reject these hegemonic and ultra-chauvinistic preachings and conceptions and firmly oppose the great-Power policy which the United States and the Soviet Union are attempting to impose upon them right here in the United Nations.
135.	Now, both the two great imperialist Powers and some others claim that the situation in Europe has undergone an important positive development and that conditions have been created for achieving complete and general security on that continent. To convince us of that, we are being reminded, among other things, of the Bonn-Moscow and Bonn-Warsaw Treaties, the Agreement on Berlin and so on.
136.	This whole picture does not reflect reality. In fact, nothing has changed in Europe. On the contrary, the aforementioned agreements have given rise to new tensions, and to the old contradictions, in the East as in the West, others have been added. The United States, the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany have redoubled their efforts to acquire dominating positions and new privileges to the detriment of other sovereign European countries.
137.	We are of the view that it would be unrealistic to speak of the possibilities of achieving European security when in Europe the United States and the Soviet Union pursue a policy of hegemony and maintain the aggressive military blocs of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, when on the territories of European countries, they have built up a whole network of military bases, where they maintain a large number of troops and organize successive military maneuvers; when Czechoslovakia is still occupied and when the theory of "limited sovereignty" is being applied in the countries of Eastern Europe; and when closed European economic groupings, in Eastern and Western Europe, practice discrimination in the field of trade and have become an obstacle to the development of equal co-operation among European countries.
138.	We remain faithful also to the viewpoint according to which peace in the world is one and indivisible. There cannot be peace in one part of the world as long as a war of aggression is being waged in another. True peace and security in Europe are inconceivable as long as quite near Europe in the Middle East open aggression and unprecedented imperialist intervention continue; as long as, in the south of the continent in the Mediterranean basin, aggression is increasing by dint of the presence of the aggressive fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union and their military naval bases.
139.	In these circumstances, the Albanian delegation would raise the following questions. Why have these aggressive fleets come to the Mediterranean from a distance of thousands of miles without being invited by anyone? Why do they cruise from one end of this sea to the other, aiming their guns at the peaceful shores of the Mediterranean countries and bringing with them the threat of war?
140.	The peoples of these countries do not need the defense or the mendacious friendship of American and Soviet imperialists. They know full well the meaning of the mission of these fleets and of the "gunboat diplomacy" of the imperialist Powers in this zone. The fact is that the Mediterranean peoples are showing an ever-increasing opposition to the stationing of American and Soviet warships and troops in this zone and to foreign military bases on their shores, and their struggle to turn the Mediterranean into a zone of peace and co-operation is intensifying. They will unfailingly achieve their noble aspirations and bring to heel these new aspirants to the dominion of the seas.
141.	The People's Republic of Albania, which expelled the Soviet social-imperialists from its waters when they tried to establish themselves on its shores and become the masters of the country, welcomes and supports the just positions of the peace-loving Mediterranean countries and their legitimate efforts to defend their independence and national sovereignty and free this basin from any policy of hegemony. As in the past, Albania will continue to contribute to efforts in this direction, it considers that the only effective way for the Mediterranean peoples to achieve their aspirations and their will is to take initiatives and undertake energetic and concrete actions. Let the Mediterranean countries on whose territories there are military bases declare that they will liquidate them; let the other Mediterranean countries proclaim that they will not tolerate the establishment of any new foreign military bases on their territories; let the Mediterranean countries which offer to American and Soviet war fleets any facilities and the temporary use of their ports for revictualling, repairs or as a resting place undertake not to assist these fleets in any way; let the Mediterranean countries which now receive visits from these fleets no longer accept them in the future.
142.	We think that the implementation of these resolute measures would constitute an important contribution to easing tension and eliminating the existing danger in the Mediterranean, tend to strengthen the national sovereignty of the Mediterranean countries, and also be a positive factor for the consolidation of true peace and security in Europe.
143.	That peace and security which the United States and the Soviet Union advocate for Europe is a peace and security which they need in order to consolidate their zones of influence, to preserve their pacts and their military bases and to guarantee the stationing of their troops on the territories of European countries. The "tranquility" they promise to create in Europe means security on their flanks so that they can direct the spearhead of their aggressive policy towards the East, especially towards the People's Republic of China.
144.	Before speaking of European security, we must clarify this question. Against whom must the peoples of Europe protect themselves, and what are the forces which represent an actual and possible danger? The true and actual danger for Europe at present and in the future comes from the two super-Powers and the German revenge- seekers, and it is against them that the peoples of Europe must be protected. There has never been, and cannot be, any abstract theoretical security. Security is always concrete. It tends to protect against a well-determined threat. To establish European security as proposed and formulated by Moscow and Washington would be tantamount to sanctioning the imperialist interests of the United States and the Soviet Union in Europe, leaving them full leeway to act militarily against peace-loving peoples and nations in other parts of the world. In these conditions, we consider that support for initiatives such as the convening of a conference on European security would facilitate the task of the two super-Powers in their efforts to establish their domination in Europe. A conference organized and manipulated by the American imperialists and the Soviet social imperialists would bring nothing but words and demagoguery and contribute nothing good to European peace and security. It would create and foster nefarious illusions harmful to the effective defense of the freedom and independence of the European peoples.
145.	The convening of a conference on European security and preparations for its organization are a part of the Soviet-American collusion that was fully shaped during the most recent talks between the two super-Powers. These preparatory activities and any decisions that might emerge from the conference will bear the tint and seal of the attempts at hegemony of the two super-Powers.
146.	We should like to stress that, in the atmosphere of delusion with which the two super-Powers have surrounded the preparations for the conference, some countries which will supposedly take part in it seem to nourish the hope that it will bring them political, economic and other advantages. But we believe that sooner or later these hopes will be dashed, for the two super-Powers will make no concession likely to affect their important mutual interests. All the strings of the conference are in their hands. That is the reason for the wariness and hesitation of various countries about the convening of that conference.
147.	The People's Republic of Albania is opposed to that kind of "European security". True peace and security in Europe will be achieved only by the concerted efforts of all the peace-loving peoples and countries of Europe, which must themselves take over this cause, strengthen their national independence and their defensive capabilities, oppose unhesitatingly any policy of hegemony and any aggressive activity of the military blocs on their continent and in the neighboring areas, fight to the end for the liquidation of military bases and the withdrawal of foreign troops from their territories, while closely linking the fight for their own security to that of all the peoples of the world.
148.	We have been witnessing of late a further intensification of the common activity of the United States and the Soviet Union in the so-called field of disarmament, and a great effort on their part to give the impression that they have seriously undertaken this task. All the hullabaloo on the disarmament question is nothing but a smoke-screen to conceal their true designs and to cover up their unbridled arms race. The latest Soviet-American agreements on the so-called limitation of strategic arms, which is being presented to us as a great historical event and a remarkable contribution to peace, far from being a step towards true disarmament and infringing in any way the nuclear monopoly of the two super-Powers, on the contrary encourages them to strengthen their predominant position and their technical and scientific superiority in the field of armaments as well as to maintain the gap they strive to keep between themselves and others. These agreements are a new stage in the continuing arms race through the further perfecting of the strategic nuclear arsenal of the superPowers. And in practice we realize that, while speaking of disarmament, the super-Powers multiply their efforts to arm themselves and increase their military budgets and their armed forces throughout the world, outside their national borders, and that, while they talk about the limitation of strategic nuclear weapons, they increase and perfect their destructive power and increase their expenditures in the field of scientific and technological research in order to invent new weapons of mass destruction.
149.	The Albanian delegation considers that it is not the small States and specific areas that should be asked to disarm, because it is not the small States or those areas—for example, it is not the Balkans or other areas, no matter where they may be located-which today threaten international peace and security. True disarmament must begin, in the first place, with the two super-Powers, because it is they who, through their aggressive policy, have become a permanent source of tension and a threat to the freedom and independence of sovereign States. To approach and consider the question of disarmament as advocated by the United States and the Soviet Union would be tantamount to raising the question in a false light and to making the struggle for disarmament a meaningless activity.
150.	If the two super-Powers seriously wish to translate their disarmament declarations into deeds, let them do so by concrete and effective action; let them put an end to their policy of war and aggression; let them undertake not to be the first to use nuclear weapons; let them undertake to prohibit the production and use of those weapons and to destroy them completely in accordance with the relevant well-known proposals of the Government of the People's Republic of China; let them embark on the road towards the destruction of weapons of mass destruction; let them reduce their armed forces to the levels required by their national defense interests; let them withdraw within their national borders all the troops and fleets they maintain abroad; let them put an end to their practice of extending military bases on the territory of other countries; let them liquidate existing military bases abroad; let them break up their aggressive military blocs and put an end to the arms race under any guise whatever.
151.	We have no illusions as to the concrete and actual steps which the two Powers would be ready to take in the field of disarmament. The aggressive nature of American imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism remains unchanged and armaments are one of the conditions of the existence of their system. That is why the convening of the world disarmament conference proposed by the Soviet Union is but a propaganda maneuver designed to pass the time by listening to empty speeches, to delude the world, and to give that country an opportunity to act against the peoples of the world and against peace.
152.	We consider that peace-loving countries that hold dear the interests of their peoples, of peace and of international security must not let themselves be drawn into the dangerous whirlwind which has been intentionally created by the imperialists, but must redouble their vigilance and fight against die false illusions spread by the two imperialist Powers on disarmament and on the advantages which would supposedly accrue therefrom to the different countries as a result of the resources released by disarmament. They must increase their defensive military potential and multiply their self-defense efforts in order to be in a position to face possible attack as well as the permanent threat to their independence and freedom stemming from the aggressive policy of the United States and the Soviet Union. The peoples do not expect true disarmament from the two great imperialist Powers. They will achieve it through a resolute struggle against them and their imperialist conspiracy.
153.	At the very center of world public opinion we find, as in the past, Viet-Nam and IndoChina, where die United States of America for many years has been continuing its infamous aggression. World public opinion has severely condemned the barbarous and inhuman acts of the American army, insistently demanding that an end be put forthwith to United States armed intervention, that American soldiers immediately leave South Viet-Nam and the IndoChinese peninsula and that the VietNamese people be left free to settle its own national problems, without any foreign interference and in accordance with its own wishes. But, in defiance of the will of all peoples and of all international principles and rules, the United States Government continues its aggression with unheard-of obstinacy and cynicism. Now the United States is in an impasse and, stunned by successive defeats, it goes from one crime to another, from one mistake to another. The serious situation in which it finds itself in Viet-Nam has not been lightened by the new measures of intensification and VietNamization of the war or by the successive escalations of criminal aggression against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. The mining and blockading of ports and the destruction of dikes accompanied by demagogic promises about the so-called withdrawal of American troops from Viet-Nam and the disengagement of the United States from IndoChina-promises to which President Nixon is now resorting for the purposes of his electoral campaign-have not yielded and will not yield any result. The words of the #United States President that he wants to achieve the withdrawal of his troops from Viet-Nam and IndoChina are nothing but a delusion which can deceive only the naive. It is quite clear now that the United States, through armed aggression and diplomatic maneuvers, is striving to reach its well-known objective in that part of the world, to make
South Viet-Nam, like the other parts of the IndoChinese peninsula, a base of aggression against the peace-loving countries of South-East Asia as well as against the national liberation movements in the area.
154.	In the pursuance of these objectives, the United States does not cease to benefit from the assistance of the Soviet leaders, who, in turn, make their own calculations and seek to draw advantages from this problem which concerns the whole world. While they say they are the great champions of Viet-Nam, the Soviet leaders have never ceased to exert pressure on the VietNamese people, to sabotage and restrain their just struggle in order to save the United States from the shameful defeat awaiting it in Viet-Nam, as they do moreover in regard to the struggle for the liberation of the people of Cambodia, by maintaining their links with the Lon Nol clique and not recognizing the legitimate Chief of State, Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, and the Royal Government of National Union of Cambodia, the sole and true legitimate representative of the Cambodian people.
155.	Recent events have brought clearly to light the whole of the collusion on Viet-Nam between the United States and the Soviet Union. There can be no other interpretation of the attitude of the Soviet leaders, who not only did not lift a little finger when President Nixon of the United States proclaimed the mining and blockade of the ports of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and launched air attacks of unprecedented magnitude against that country but have used these American actions as a pretext to stop the small supply of military assistance that they may have sent it. The war in Viet-Nam has in no way altered the American- Soviet idyll and the state of relations between the two super-Powers, which are agreed that the people of Viet-Nam should not achieve their freedom and independence and that the Americans should not be expelled from Viet-Nam and IndoChina.
156.	But the people of Viet-Nam have not permitted and will never permit others to play with the blood of their sons fallen on the field of honor; they are determined to fight-in unity with the peoples of Cambodia and Laos while benefiting from the powerful support of the great Chinese people and from international solidarity with the peace-loving peoples of the world to win the final victory over the imperialist American aggressors and solve their own problems, as they have decided to do in keeping with their supreme national interests. There is no doubt that a true and just peace will be established in Viet-Nam and throughout IndoChina and it will be achieved through the resolute struggle of the heroic peoples of IndoChina. It will be obtained only when the United States is compelled completely and definitely and without conditions to withdraw its aggressive troops from that area, when it dismantles its bases and withdraws its military equipment, when it ceases to encourage and give support to its henchmen in IndoChina.
157.	The development of events in the Middle East in the current year has again shown not only that the aggression against the Arab Republic of Egypt, Syria and other peaceful Arab countries continues but that the Israeli Zionists are embarking more and more along this course and insist obstinately on their absurd expansionist claims and ambitions in regard to such countries. While in the occupied Arab territories they practice an unbridled policy of de-nationalization and apply racism, on the political level, starting from positions of strength, they seek to legalize the fruits of armed aggression and to dictate their will to the Arab peoples. In the meantime the United States does not cease to give Israel unreserved political and moral support and to supply it with the most modern weapons in unlimited quantities. The Soviet Union, although it passes for a champion of the just cause of the Arab peoples, indulges in a double play and creates obstacles for them in their just struggle for the liberation of the occupied territories and the defense of their national interests, which is tantamount to encouraging openly the Israeli Zionists to continue their aggression. While the United States provides Israel with weapons, the Soviet Union for its part supplies it with a qualified live force by sending to that country tens of thousands of Soviet Jews. The two partners thus jointly satisfy the needs of Israel, enabling it to continue its aggression against the Arab States. The Soviet Union, in connivance with the United States, has endeavored and still endeavors entirely and definitely to liquidate the Palestinian affair.
158.	The two super-Powers have never been in favor of a true solution of the Middle East problem. In keeping with the objectives of their over-all strategy in that area, they speculate on the temporary difficulties of the Arab countries and, as can be seen also from their recent common attitude, they do the impossible to maintain the situation of "no war, no peace" as it is called, which means the maintenance of their positions and their political, economic and military influence in that area.
159.	The leader of the Albanian people, Enver Hoxha, at the Sixth Congress of the Labor PArty of Albania, held in November last year, stated:
"The Zionists, the imperialists and the revisionists endeavor to divide the Arabs and to sow discord among them, with the intent of weakening their common front of anti-imperialist liberation and imposing on them a peace that is contrary to their vital interests. The two super-Powers, which seek to take into their hands the destinies of the Middle East and to play there the role of arbiter, propose to divide it into zones of influence and to build on the ruins of the Arab peoples new bases from which they would set out on new conquests in the Asian and African continent.
"But if the Arab peoples have fought for centuries for their freedom and independence, for the defense of their honor and their property, it is not in order to sacrifice them now to the imperialist interests of the great Powers. The price of the peace that the American imperialists and the Soviet revisionists offer them is very high. Further, it is an insult to them and a serious affront to the glorious traditions, the dignity and pride of all the Arab peoples. Those peoples have clearly made it known that they will not renounce even an inch of Arab land and that there will be no bargaining on the Palestinian question."
160.	The recent measures adopted by the Arab Republic of Egypt to expel the Soviet advisers and military experts dealt a serious blow to the Soviet expansionist policy in the
Middle East; they revealed the dangerous conspiracies that the Soviet social-imperialists are plotting with the American imperialists against the Arab peoples and the other peoples.
161.	These measures represent an important step towards the consolidation of Egypt's independence and State sovereignty and once again confirm what we, the Albanians, have been saying for a long time, namely, that the Soviet revisionists do not give their weapons to the Arab States to help them in their struggle against Zionist imperialist aggression, but rather to tie their hands and to become tomorrow the masters of those countries in order to install themselves at their ease in the Middle East. We have said this not from drawing abstract, political conclusions but also and above all by drawing our conclusions from the hostile policy of the Soviet Khrushchevian revisionists who have sought to occupy our ports and turn Albania into an arsenal for their own ends. But the Albanian people have unhesitatingly unmasked their diabolical plans.
162.	The lesson to be drawn from recent events in Egypt is that sovereign peoples and countries cannot rely on the weapons and "assistance" provided by the two great imperialist Powers who seek to impose on them their domination.
163.	The Soviet leaders are not in the habit of speaking of their defeats. That is why, again this time, they attempt to minimize the whole affair. They present things as if the military advisers expelled from Egypt "have acquitted themselves with honor of their tasks and are now going back home". One may well wonder what tasks they acquitted themselves of with honor? Would it be by chance their attempt to halt the Arab peoples in their just struggle for the liberation of the occupied territories, or would it be their attempt to maintain in the Middle East the status quo, which favors Israel and the Soviet- American designs of expansion.
164.	Peace in the Middle East will not be instituted either by the United States or the Soviet Union, nor by these two Powers together, nor by resolutions adopted on their initiative nor through missions proposed and manipulated by them, but by the firm struggle of the Arab peoples, in close unity, against the Zionist aggressors and the plots of the two super-Powers. The Israeli aggressors must definitely and without conditions leave all the occupied Arab territories and put an end to their policy of aggression and armed provocation against the peace-loving Arab peoples. The Palestinian rights must be recognized and restored.
165.	The peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America aspire, like all peoples, to live in freedom and independence, to become masters within their frontiers. But, despite the great changes that have taken place and are taking place, the imperialist Powers do not renounce their old colonial possessions and brutally apply there the policy of apartheid and racial discrimination. That is why the whole of Africa is in ferment today and everywhere we witness armed liberation struggles for the liberation and independence of the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau), the Cape Verde Islands, Namibia, and South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Northern Ireland patriots fight, weapons in hand, against colonial oppression and the terror of the British leading circles. The People of Puerto Rico stubbornly seek to shake off the imperialist yoke. In the United States itself, rebellion and the movement of protest of the blacks against racial discrimination do not cease to grow and expand.
166.	The imperialist Powers, and first of all the United States and the Soviet Union, obstinately apply a very marked neo-colonialist policy. They exploit and plunder other peoples, particularly those that have recently acquired freedom from colonial oppression.
167.	It is not my intention to dwell at length here on the forms of domination and the hateful practices of these Powers in those countries, but, as the representative of a country the noble principle underlying whose policy is the support of peoples fighting for freedom and independence, I cannot remain silent in the face of the fact that these countries are the object of the greed of neo-colonialists who threaten their political independence and sovereignty, nor can I fail at the same time to express the full solidarity of our people with their just, anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist struggle.
168.	The United States and the Soviet Union have already agreed and co-ordinated their action relating to their so-called aid to other countries. All their assistance is subordinated to political and military conditions and is calculated to preserve intact the status quo in the distribution of their zones of influence, to hinder the extension of national liberation struggles, and to prevent the creation of situations which might endanger the interests of the super-Powers.
169.	We applaud the struggle of the peaceful countries of Latin America and other countries which defend their national and territorial integrity and national jurisdiction against the hegemonic designs of the two super-Powers. We firmly support the just measures taken by Algeria, Iraq, Libya and other main petroleum-producing countries, as well as Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries, and countries of Africa and Asia, to defend their independence and sovereignty, as well as their property and their national rights. The People's Republic of Albania will never cease to support their just cause.
170.	Peace-loving peoples and countries are strong enough to stand up to the threat and dangers to which the two super-Powers subject them, and we are convinced that that firm resolve to defend their honor and independence cannot be destroyed by any Power however great and strongly armed it may be. The great People's China, that great socialist Power which is developing rapidly and continues to move forward, has become a great factor of peace and security in the world. It represents a definite support for the struggle of peoples and countries for freedom and national independence and social progress an insurmountable obstacle to the aggressive hegemony plans of the two super-Powers.
171.	The whole of progressive mankind enthusiastically applauded last year the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, a glowing victory of the great Chinese People's Republic and of its just external policy, and at the same time a victory for all the peace-loving and freedom-loving peoples of the world. That was the crowning of the struggle that Member States, including the People's Republic of Albania, have carried on unceasingly for over 20 years to put an end to the unprecedented situation that had been created in our Organization.
172.	The presence of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations has notably strengthened the struggle of anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist forces even here in the Organization, as well as the struggle of peace-loving member States against the two great imperialist Powers and in favor of the defense of the rights of peoples and the cause of peace. But with the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations only a first step, although an important one, was taken along the path leading to the enhancement of the authority and effectiveness of the Organization. Many other measures will have to be adopted in order that the Organization may live up to the provisions of the Charter and the demands of our times.
173.	We note that the United Nations is still powerless to fulfill the tasks for which it was created, to make its contribution to the solution of important problems that are of concern to the world today. This is borne out by many recent and numerous events. The inability of the United Nations was clearly manifested in the case of the armed aggression perpetrated by India last year, with the support of the Soviet social-imperialists, against Pakistan, an aggression that led to the brutal dismemberment of the territory of a sovereign Member State. Now we are asked to recognize and legalize that situation created by violence. That inability or ineffectiveness is clearly noticeable, too, in the failure of efforts to solve the Middle East question; in the interminable debates on disarmament; in the legalization thereby of many dangerous conspiracies of the two super-Powers; in the non-implementation of many decisions concerning colonial problems, and so on.
174.	Our Organization's past and present inadmissible attitude in regard to the peace-loving Korean people is also obvious proof of its weakness and the deadlock in which it finds itself. Everyone knows not only that the United Nations has been used to cover up the barbarous aggression of the United States and its allies against the Korean people, but also that its flag serves even today to camouflage the maintenance in South Korea of American aggressive troops, which have brought to the population of that part of Korea untold suffering and misery, which constantly indulge in armed provocation against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and aggravate tension in the Far East. The existence, for 20 years, of the so-called United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea constitutes another aspect of the flagrant interference of the United Nations in the internal affairs of the Korean people and is a clear violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter.
175.	The delegation of the People's Republic of Albania, condemning once again most strongly the serious acts committed against the Korean people, emphasizes that if the Organization wishes to make its contribution to this question, it must as soon as possible adopt the decision demanded for a long time, first of all by the Korean people
but also by all peace-loving peoples, to dissolve without delay the unlawful Commission on Korea and immediately to withdraw American aggressive troops from South Korea. Those are the first urgent measures to be adopted. Only thus can we prevent discrediting further this Organization on this question. The Korean people must be left free to decide its own destiny in accordance with its wishes and without any interference from outside and to realize its legitimate national aspirations and the reunification of its country.
176.	In the opinion of the Albanian delegation it is also necessary to restore without delay the legitimate rights of the Kingdom of Cambodia, whose place in the United Nations must be occupied by representatives of the Royal Government of National Union of Cambodia, the only legitimate representatives of the Cambodian people. This requires the immediate expulsion of the representatives of the Lon Nol clique. As for the request for the immediate expulsion of the representatives of the Lon Nol clique, such a decision would be in keeping with the tenets of justice, the sovereign right of the people of Cambodia and the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.
177.	The present international situation and the interests of enhancing and strengthening the capacity and role of the United Nations impose on all its Member States, and all those who are attached to the fundamental principles of its Charter and who respect them, the need to co-ordinate their efforts and to intensify their struggle to free the United Nations from the American-Soviet maneuvers and to place it on the right course.
178.	Those were some of the main problems in the international situation on which the delegation of Albania wished to express the point of view of its Government. But at the beginning of the work of this session the question of terrorism was raised, and the United States delegation made a lot of noise about it.
179.	Our attitude concerning terrorism is well known. We do not approve of it. But the Albanian delegation could not fail to highlight the fact that the timing and manner of presentation of this question show that the aim is, in the name of "the struggle against terrorism", to strike at the national liberation struggles," the sacred right of peoples to use every means to fight to recover and safeguard their freedom and independence. It is clear that the United States and those who support it are endeavoring to use this question to distract world public opinion from the monstrous crimes which they are committing in Viet-Nam and throughout Indochina, the barbarous acts of terror perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people, Lebanon, and all the other Arab peoples, the savage racial oppression and genocide practiced in certain African countries, and so forth.
180.	Peace-loving Member States must not be hoodwinked by American maneuvers, but must unmask the true terror, the crimes and barbarous acts of the imperialists. They must struggle against the policy of aggression and expansion, against the policy of oppression and colonial exploitation which have brought untold suffering and misery to the world.
181.	The People's Republic of Albania which consistently follows a just foreign policy of principle, of resolute defense of the lofty interests of the Albanian people, of unreserved support for the struggle of peoples and sovereign countries for their freedom, national independence and social progress and for peace and international co-operation-will, as in the past, always side with peace-loving peoples and countries and will spare no effort to help them to achieve the triumph of their common cause, to accede to genuine peace and ensure the defense of their supreme national interests. At this session once again, the Albanian delegation, in conformity with this just attitude of its socialist country, will unite its efforts with those of the delegations of other progressive countries and will make its fullest contribution to the realization of these high and noble objectives.


Mr.President, I should like first of all to congratulate you warmly on your election as President of this, the twenty-seventh session, of the General Assembly, which is an indication of the high esteem in which you and your country are held. Your country's great contribution to international affairs and your own untiring efforts in promoting goodwill among nations have both been fittingly rewarded by this Assembly.
112.	The deep appreciation of my delegation is also extended to your predecessor, Mr. Adam Malik, for the admirable manner in which he guided the deliberations of this Assembly during its twenty-sixth session.
113.	To the Secretary-General my delegation also wishes to offer congratulations on his appointment to a most exacting job. He has already given proof that he possesses those qualities of mind and spirit which will be of inestimable value in dealing with the immense problems confronting our Organization. Barbados pledges him its unstilted support as he strives to uphold the principles of the Charter and to implement directives of this Organization and its related agencies.
114.	At this time of the year the delegations here assembled sometimes enjoy the privilege of welcoming those new States admitted into the family of nations. My delegation very much regrets that it is not able on this occasion to welcome a delegation from Bangladesh. Barbados was one of the first two countries in the world certainly the first in the Western Hemisphere to recognize the sovereignty of the people of Bangladesh. We hope that this Organization will not repeat the craven blunder which for 20 spiteful years excluded from our family the largest single section of humanity, whose claim to be in full control of its own affairs was always beyond dispute. It is better to count heads than to break them, and for this reason my delegation looks forward to welcoming Bangladesh to this Organization in the very near future. As we bring more sovereign States into the United Nations we provide greater contentment for and,, hopefully, easier dispersal of, their suspicions and frustrations.
115.	Barbados is pleased to note the very positive steps which some countries have taken in the past year to resolve their differences with others. The great Powers have negotiated with one other and have defined their common interests without, according to the communiques, sacrificing the vital interests of other States. Any accord, however tenuous, which exists among the nuclear Powers must be complemented by a greater willingness on their part to understand that world peace needs a more solid foundation than they seem disposed at the moment to give it. Not to blow the world up shows commendable restraint on their part, but my delegation feels that the purely negative virtue of self-preservation ought to give way to the more positive one of wanting peace for its own sake.
116.	It is in this context that we note with satisfaction the attempts being made by the two Korean States and the two
Germanys to talk with each other. We hope that these dialogs will continue until mutual interests are distilled, and that other States will not cumber them with gratuitous, selfish and wrongheaded advice. It would be as well if the two VietNams or what is left of each of them could talk to each other to discover whose war they are waging, and whether the great Powers whose proxies they are would permit them to bring it to an end, or whether the great Powers would transfer it to their respective soils. My delegation also hopes that the Simla Agreement of 3 July 1972 reached between India and Pakistan will hold firm and lead to an enduring peace among the peoples of those two great Asian States.
117.	We have enough realism to known that these accords do not suggest that final solutions to these problems have been reached. But we are certain that these halting but welcome successes have come from the conference table and not from the battlefield. Where there has been persistence in dialog and patience in discussion, something good has emerged. That is why this Assembly must continue to exhort all parties to a dispute, in all the tension-filled areas of the globe, to use the proven techniques of conciliation and negotiation.
118.	We must also soften our rhetoric in our debates when we discuss areas of conflict and tension. If the truth must be told, we have not always helped a situation by taking sides in it when we should have been encouraging those in dispute to resolve their differences in accordance with the principles of the Charter. Great causes need to be thoroughly understood before they can be decently espoused, and it is always a better service to world peace if great and sensitive issues are debated with restraint and objectivity.
119.	There is a widely held belief among nations that the maintenance of world peace is the special responsibility of the great Powers. It has a limited truth only because the great Powers have greater means at their disposal to breach the peace with impunity. But the maintenance of world peace is the responsibility of all States and it could well be that a genuine policy of non-alignment might encourage the great Powers to be more circumspect in the application of their selfish policies. My delegation therefore believes that all States should first contribute to the peace of their own immediate regions by pursuing peaceful policies with sir neighbors. Within our own hemisphere, for instance, we would wish to see new initiatives taken to end the isolation of the Republic of Cuba on the basis of mutual respect and tolerance, and we, would also wish to see our sister Caribbean State Belize achieve its independence with the positive goodwill of, and without demur from, its immediate neighbors. Outside our own region my delegation will strive with others to encourage the pacific settlement of disputes and we therefore in this session of the Assembly, as in previous ones, call upon the contestants in the Middle East to go to the conference table no matter what its shape or size and bring their tragic conflict to an end.
120.	Even while we wrestle with these difficulties, we meet under the shadow of a greater menace. Recent events in an international sports arena, in airports and aircraft and elsewhere have brought into focus the need to answer resolutely and swiftly those who commit cowardly and murderous acts of terrorism. My delegation condemns without equivocation the resort to murder as a political weapon and my Government would under no circumstances shelter or protect organizations or persons known to be or proved to be in sympathy with others who are so engaged. The political assassin is rarely a liberator and if there are countries and States which can make excuses for the seizure of aircraft and the infliction of needless terror upon innocent travelers by air, or can rationalize the cowardly slaughter of the diplomatic personnel of States, then those countries and States neither serve their own best interests nor strengthen their claim to be part of the civilized world. If terrorism is not struck down, then this Assembly will soon cease to be the voice of decency among the nations. No country will then be immune and those countries which even now will not condemn the terrorist will soon find themselves at his mercy because the nihilist will not distinguish between ideologies when the knife and the bomb quiver in his grasp.
121.	Barbados, with a tradition of respect for law and order, will support any action taken to stamp out this malignant growth and to erase this terrible blot on the conscience of mankind.
122.	But terrorism, like peace, is indivisible. We must not suppose that there is greater immorality in blowing up an aircraft with innocent passengers than there is in the mindless brutalities which are heaped upon whole populations in southern Africa and sometimes elsewhere. In some countries the mere possession of a white skin confers unbridled license to inflict upon darker skins the most bestial assaults, of which the taking of life is perhaps the least unbearable. When States can commit acts of aggression against whole peoples in the name of a counterfeit philosophy of racism, and can do this in full defiance of world opinion, it should not astonish anyone that wicked all depraved individuals should plan and encompass the murder of others and even boast about it, while some States, whose agents they may be, nurse their guilty secrets in complacency. My delegation therefore calls once again upon this Assembly to condemn and outlaw all forms of assault upon human life and dignity, whether the aggressors are homeless and misguided robots, or whether they happen to be, for the time being, entrenched in the control or possession of States. This threat of terrorism and anarchy has always been with us and in our haste to utter a rightful condemnation of the new gangsterism we must show the same sense of urgency in rooting out the detestable racist regimes which exist in any part of Africa or elsewhere.
123.	There is a necessary connexion between the ills we condemn and the economic injustice yet another form of terrorism which is suffered by the majority of States. Hundreds of millions of human beings in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America still live-if that is the word for it-in great but still unfulfilled expectations of a fairer share of the world's trade. At the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held in Chile earlier this year, while the rich nations were prepared to discuss freely how hungry nations were to be fed, or how the primary commodities of poor countries were to bring good prices in the markets of the few, those same nations were not prepared to make the decent political commitments which would help developing countries. They had no sooner left Santiago than they set about stiffening the terms of trade by all those artifices which are designed further to impoverish the already poor countries. They manipulate the world's currencies always to their own convenience and would have us believe that the world's future depends on what artificial values they choose to bestow upon the bits of metal or paper which they use to siphon off the profits of the world's trade into their own countries. They scurry to one another's capitals to decide how the world should be run, and, inevitably, their decisions decree that the peasant in Africa or Asia or Latin America must pay more for goods and services produced in a few countries, but must sell, if he can, what he produces at prices which drive him further below the poverty line.
124.	As if that were not enough, the richer nations have devised yet another means of pauperizing the rest of the world. Not long ago we heard many pious resolutions about the allocation of 1 per cent of their gross domestic product to raise the rest of us above the poverty line. A few countries equal to the number of people who could stand in a telephone booth have honorably tried to meet this obligation. A few others were lavish in promise of aid and have fulfilled their promises by tying their assistance to such burdensome restrictions that recipient countries either have refused the help or have impoverished themselves further by accepting it.
125.	It is no accident of history that the world's major trading and financial powers are precisely those which once held great empires or extended their military and economic influence beyond their patrimonial seas. Old habits die hard and the cynical substitution of "spheres of affluence" for "spheres of influence" is but the new method of controlling the world without the vulgar necessity of having to govern it.
126.	A very casual glance at the conditions laid down by the European Economic Community for association with it, or even for selling anything to its members, will indicate that this venture may well become a conspiracy in restraint of world trade.
127.	It will be the duty of this Organization and its agencies to search out and, if not prevented, find solutions to the problems of international economic development. The agencies must develop proper insights into the question of poverty in the under-developed world. They must take note of the different levels of development, but they are not entitled to categorize some poor countries as well off merely because their pride and industry inhibits them from passing around their begging bowls.
128.	While the poor nations struggle to find some redress to the prevailing economic imbalances, the resources of the sea and the immense wealth that lies in the ocean bed and the subsoil thereof have presented some glimmer of hope. In June this year, Barbados, with other Caribbean countries, while stressing that the resources of the sea, sea-bed and subsoil of the maritime areas within their jurisdiction and adjacent to their coasts can help to improve the living standards of our peoples and accelerate progress in our countries, recognized the need to preserve and protect these resources. For not only are these resources being contaminated and polluted, but they are already being exploited and utilized to increase the wealth of those nations which by their manipulations pauperize the rest of the world.
129.	The immediate need to regulate the use of and preserve and protect the marine resources makes it urgent that arrangements be concluded for the international conference on the law of the sea.
130.	Today more than ever there is need for the United Nations to act with determination to meet the ideals of peace, justice and progress enshrined in its Charter. Even while the Organization is preoccupied with adopting measures to arrest the wave of disrespect for human life, which has reached alarming proportions, greater efforts must be expanded to overcome the frustrations of the many peoples of this world and bring into reality their desire for a better life.
131.	All States Members of this Organization must assist in this regard.


Mr. President, I offer you on behalf of India our most cordial congratulations on your election as the President of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly. By electing you, the Member States have recognized your own skill and wisdom and have also honored the struggles and achievements of the Polish people. India has had close and friendly relations with Poland, and I wish to assure you of our fullest co-operation as you discharge your responsibilities.
47.	I should also like to pay a tribute to our outgoing President, Adam Malik, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, for the patience and devotion with which he guided our work during the last session.
48.	We recall the long years of dedicated service which U Thant gave to the United Nations and for which he will always be remembered with affection and admiration. At the same time, we greet our Secretary-General, Mr. Waldheim. His dynamism and his high sense of purpose had been recognized even before his election at the end of our last session. Since then his tireless efforts in the exercise of his duties have earned him high respect. We wish him continued success.
49.	In India, we are celebrating this year the twenty-fifth anniversary of our independence. As a result of the long struggle of our people, we became independent in the year 1947. In the years that followed, the freedom of most countries from colonial domination was achieved and a community of interest in justice and progress began to grown among the newly independent countries. In the quarter of a century that has since passed, we have had our share of difficulties and successes. Today we are more united and determined than we have ever been before in the last 25 years. Our faith in our democracy has become deeper, our goals for the betterment of our people are clearer, and our resolution to achieve them has become firmer. We realize that basically we must rely on our own values and resources in order to strengthen our economy and to accelerate the pace of our development. The bulk of the burden must fall on us as indeed it has fallen on us in the past. At the same time we believe that international co-operation is vitally necessary if humanity as a whole is to be freed from poverty and want. Our unfinished revolution in India will not be completed until full economic and social justice is assured for all our people. In this spirit, we seek nothing but co-operation and friendship with all, on a basis of equality.
50.	India adheres firmly to the policy of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence. This does not, and cannot, mean an exact middle position between any two extreme views on matters of international concern. India's policy of non-alignment is based on the need in the modern world to maximize the area of peace, reduce tension and ensure stability with justice. We believe in the sovereign parity of all nations; we accept the supremacy of none. Our friendship is open to all countries on the same terms. We trust in co-operation among equals, not in co-operation on the basis of domination by one country over another. This policy determines our attitude to all countries, and will continue to govern our relationship with our neighbors.
51.	The last year has been marked by significant detente among nations, big and small. The meetings of leaders in Moscow and Peking, the agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States, especially on the limitation of strategic arms, are helpful changes from the earlier and sterile, and at times dangerous, confrontations. In Europe many prospects for the reduction of tensions have opened up. Some of the recent events in Asia encourage the hope that our part of the world might also soon be moving towards greater understanding and co-operation. Our purpose in this improving situation will be to ensure that the momentum towards an ever-expanding area of understanding and accommodation is maintained.
52.	The world at large is rejecting more and more the concepts of spheres of influence, under the guise of balance of power and of domination of smaller Powers by the mightier ones. In this context the Secretary-General has noted in his thoughtful introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [Af8701jAdd. 1], that the idea of keeping peace and security through a concert of great Powers is outdated, if not outmoded. The current processes of detente can produce healthy and abiding results only when they do not ignore the interests of countries that are yet to participate in them. Non-aligned countries have long striven for such contacts and consultations as are now in fact taking place. At the same time they have repeatedly emphasized the risks to true independence if agreements are not concluded by broad-based consultations.
53.	A recent encouraging development has been the greater and more determined pursuit of bilateralism in the search for solutions to many international problems. In the past there were many instances when the interests of outside Powers prevented the settlement of problems which could have been achieved by mutual consultations among the parties directly concerned. Examples of this kind are not altogether absent in our time. Nevertheless, in areas as widely separated as Central Europe, North Africa, West Africa and Asia, agreements have been reached for solving a number of problems through the efforts of the countries directly concerned. The settlement of problems mutually and bilaterally can, we think, strengthen peace, security and independence.
54.	Looked at from this point of view, the recent developments in the relations between India and Pakistan mark a significant departure from past years, when hostility and suspicion were unfortunately the dominant features. Direct negotiations have provided a more dependable means by which we can settle and solve our problems to the benefit of the vast population of the region. In a sincere search for a durable peace and good-neighbourly relations, we opened negotiations with Pakistan last February which culminated in the Simla Agreement of 3 July 1972. The two Governments have agreed that all problems between them should be settled by peaceful means through mutual consultations.
55.	The President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India have pledged full support and expressed their complete determination for the faithful implementation of the Simla Agreement. For this purpose, further accords are to be arrived at by mutual consultation and discussion. The use of force has been totally abjured. They have also agreed that in Jammu and Kashmir the entire line of control as it existed at the time of ceasefire on 17 December 1971 will be respected by both sides. The two Governments have been taking steps to carry out this agreement and when some doubts and difficulties arose a few weeks ago, these too were resolved by direct negotiations. The military commanders have been meeting from time to time to work out the delineation of the line of control. Agreement on delineation has been arrived at practically everywhere except for a few small pockets where the total area involved is only a few square miles. We have offered to the Pakistan side to have joint inspection and survey, wherever necessary, in order to complete the delineation. We hope that the military commanders of the two sides will meet without any further delay to finalize delineation in the remaining small pockets by holding joint meetings, joint inspections and surveys whenever necessary. We hope that very shortly the entire line will be delineated. The completion of this task will, as already agreed, be followed by mutual withdrawal of troops. In the meantime, exchanges have been taking place of sick and wounded prisoners of war and of those civilians who came to be under the custody of India or Pakistan at the outbreak of hostilities on the western sector.
56.	There are naturally several problems arising out of the armed conflict, and the two Governments have agreed that these problems, as also other basic unresolved matters between the two countries, would be settled by mutual agreement. A series of meetings at various levels is envisaged to achieve this objective. The welcome accorded to the Simla Agreement by the international community will sustain the efforts of the two Governments and their leaders to work patiently towards a durable peace.
57.	The Simla Agreement is the first major fruitful step in the search for mutual understanding and co-operation between India and Pakistan. Its full and effective application should bring about conditions in both countries which will enable their peoples to utilize their resources and energies for the pressing task of advancing their welfare. The peoples of India and Pakistan have many common interests and aspirations and they would wish to live as good neighbors. The Simla Agreement has therefore been widely supported by the people of both the countries.
58.	The emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign country is destined to be of vital importance in strengthening peace, stability, security and progress in the subcontinent. We welcome Bangladesh as an equal partner in this common task of the countries of the region. The heroism and fortitude of the people of Bangladesh will be an invaluable asset in the reconstruction of their country.
59.	We deeply regret that Bangladesh was not enabled to take its place at the opening of this session of the General Assembly. A country with 75 million people, it has been recognized by over 90 other sovereign States and has already found its rightful place in many international forums. The earliest admission of Bangladesh to the United Nations will further strengthen the United Nations system, will reinforce the principle of universality of our Organization, and will contribute to the more expeditious normalization of relations among the countries of the subcontinent and the achievement of peace and harmony in the area. We are convinced that this General Assembly can do much to bring this about, through reconsideration of Bangladesh's application by the Security Council.
60.	We sincerely hope that, in the shortest possible time, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be able to solve all the problems between them with understanding and as equal sovereign States.
61.	We view with deep satisfaction the fact that India's relations with other neighboring countries continue to grow in depth and so serve to help strengthen the forces of peace and progress in South Asia. The relations between China and India have not shown the necessary and expected improvement. On our part, we continue to be ready, as indeed we have indicated in the past, to resume normal relations with China and to improve them in our mutual interest and with mutual respect. Against the background of the normalization and detente that have taken place in Asia and in other parts of the world such an improvement in Sino-Indian relations is, in our opinion, all the more desirable.
62.	Naturally, I have taken a few minutes to explain at some length the significant developments on the Indian subcontinent, the state of our relations with some of our immediate neighbors, and the hopes for peace and progress they inspire. These issues are nearest to us. I must now deal briefly with some other vital international problems.
63.	The presence in this hall of 132 States should make us doubly conscious of the absence of representatives of many large areas of the world which are still under colonial rule. Nor can we ignore the fact that in several countries rampant racism is being preached and practiced. The solution of these problems will require a degree of awareness and co-operation which are unfortunately still lacking. The Indian delegation will do its utmost to work out, together with the others, all such practical means as the United Nations can pursue. We shall continue to support the struggle for independence being carried out by the people of all colonial Territories, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau). We will not relax our efforts to eliminate racial discrimination, whenever and wherever it appears. The meetings of the Security Council last winter at Addis Ababa provided an opportunity for focusing attention on these problems. We look forward with interest to the outcome of the Secretary-General's efforts with regard to Namibia and to the more effective use of the Commissioner and the Council for Namibia.
64.	The situation that has now arisen in Uganda cannot but cause concern to all of us. The problems facing the Asians affected by the expulsion order are essentially humanitarian in character and can be solved only in a spirit of compassion and understanding. The people facing deportation should be afforded reasonable time to be able to wind up their affairs in an orderly manner and depart in safety. A vast majority of them have lived there for generations and they should be allowed to take with them their personal belongings and a reasonable amount of assets to enable them to restart their lives in other lands with some measure of hope and confidence. We hope that the Government of Uganda will respect these human considerations and do everything possible to discharge its responsibility towards the person and property of these unfortunate people and so lessen their hardship. Any help other countries can give in overcoming this problem will, of course, be most welcome; India, for its part, is doing all it can.
65.	We must ensure that our solidarity in the common struggle against racial discrimination and colonial domination is not undermined. Since we all agree that racial discrimination is an evil to be fought, we, all of us, cannot but oppose it, whatever form it may take.
66.	Tensions and frustrations continue to mount in the Middle East and indeed, as recent incidents have shown, are rising to unprecedented heights of senseless and savage reprisals and terror. The efforts of Ambassador Jarring and of our Secretary-General have not yet borne fruit and meanwhile Israel is persistently consolidating its position to the total detriment of Arab and Palestinian rights and interests. Israel has consistently obstructed all attempts at progress towards a peaceful solution of this problem as laid down in Security Council resolution 242(1967) and has created the situation, where threats to international peace and security are increasing daily and at times ominously. We would also ask why the permanent members of the Security Council have for months failed to meet in the face of this deteriorating situation and this grave problem.
67.	India stands firmly against interference by outside Powers aimed at preventing any people from determining its destiny or choosing its form of government in accordance with its own wishes. The tragedy in Viet-Nam is the prolonged denial, in the most brutal manner, of this basic right of the people. We cannot but strongly deplore and express dismay at the continued and ever-increasing bombardment and aerial bombing of innocent men, women and children, their cities, villages and homes, and the indiscriminate destruction of ports, industries, crops, forests and all other means of existence. We have consistently held and expressed the view for a long time that force and foreign military intervention cannot bring this problem to an end. This view is shared by a large and ever-increasing number of countries. Recent indications are that the United States of America has also come to accept this view. We believe that the seven-point proposal put forward by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South VietNam provides a reasonable basis for peaceful negotiations. The continuance of bombing with savage intensity in Indochina in these circumstances must command our utmost opposition.
68.	We regret the attitude of non-cooperation by Saigon, which holds out little hope of progress towards a peaceful settlement of this problem. The independence, integrity and non-alignment of the three States of Indochina are vital to the peace and progress of Asia. The Geneva accords  provided the framework within which these objectives could be achieved. The decision of the Saigon Government to refuse a visa to the Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in VietNam is in clear violation of its obligations.
69.	We are disappointed that the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament has not been able to finalize even limited measures during the past year's deliberations. Bearing in mind the link between the strengthening of international security, disarmament and economic development, we expect that the objectives of cessation and reversal of the arms race, especially in nuclear armaments, the elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the achievement of general and complete disarmament under effective international control will be vigorously pursued. Our general views supporting the convening of a world disarmament conference, after adequate preparation and with the participation of all States, have been made known and we look forward to a constructive debate during this session.
70.	On the question of the strengthening of international security and related subjects, we are confident that our discussions will enable us to give effect, in a more practical and fruitful manner, to the ideas embodied in the Declaration itself [resolution 2734 (XXV)], with such further elaboration as may be necessary.
71.	The adoption of General Assembly resolution 2832 (XXVI), declaring the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace, is a welcome follow-up of the Declaration on the Strengthening of International Security. The creation of zones of peace and co-operation, free from great-Power military rivalries and interventions, and the removal of bases conceived in that context, must be seen as part of legitimate regional efforts towards strengthening international security. My delegation would support the taking of further steps to give fuller meaning and substance to the Declaration and would co-operate with other delegations for this purpose.
72.	The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm last June, has awakened hopes and fears at the same time. The prevention of pollution is a matter of common concern to the entire human race. But the developing countries cannot accept any line of reasoning which makes the prevention of pollution an excuse for slowing down growth in the poorer countries.
73.	Addressing the Conference, the Prime Minister of India pointed out that "Environment cannot be improved in conditions of poverty. Nor can poverty be eradicated without use of science and technology."
74.	To the bulk of the human population poverty continues to be a much bigger menace than pollution. The true lesson of the Stockholm Conference is that we must start the quest for a world without poverty and without pollution. We consider that the program should be formulated on a world-wide basis in order to assist countries to meet effectively the requirements of the growth of human settlements and to improve the quality of life in existing settlements by creating a human settlement development fund.
75.	The peaceful uses of the sea-bed and the utilization of " the vast and as yet untapped resources of the sea-bed in the interests of mankind remain a matter of importance to us. We cautiously hope that the preparatory work entrusted to the United Nations Committee on the sea-bed  will result in the early convening of a conference on the law of the sea.
76.	Recent developments in the world economy and in the monetary field have caused grave concern to us all and have pointed to the need for the establishing of a more durable and equitable world monetary system. Let us not forget that the world economy will not be restored to health by focusing only on the payments problems of the prosperous countries. Monetary, trade and development problems are all closely interrelated and the developing countries have a vital stake in all of them. The developing countries must therefore participate fully in any decision-making process affecting the future of the international monetary system, so that their legitimate interests may be fully safeguarded.
77.	Last week the International Monetary Fund at its annual meeting  showed some awareness of the problem by setting up a committee of Governors in which the developing countries have increased representation. We consider that the link between the special drawing rights and additional development finance, which we have always advocated and the need for which has now been widely realized, should be established soon.
78.	India participated, with great expectations, in the third session of UNCTAD, held in Santiago earlier this year.
The need for taking speedy follow-up action on the decisions taken at that conference cannot be over-emphasized. It may be too early to attempt a final evaluation of the results of the conference, but clearly many trade and allied issues of great concern to the developing countries have remained unresolved. Continued efforts from all sides are therefore necessary if the high hopes that were entertained in respect of that conference are to be realized.
79.	Two years ago my delegation had occasion to emphasize the great importance of the adoption by the General Assembly of an International Development Strategy for the 1970s. It cannot, however, be said with any degree of confidence that the commitments voluntarily assumed by the international community only a short time ago are being implemented with any vigor and vitality. If anything, there has been a slide-back in the fulfillment of the goals and objectives of the Decade, and the interests of the developing countries have been given only residual consideration. During the remaining years of this decade, therefore, it will be necessary for all of us to catch up with the time loss and to evolve effective and concrete pro-grammes of international co-operation in the economic field.
80.	At the same time, the continuous and well-coordinated review and appraisal of the implementation of the Development Strategy will need to be equally emphasized. We hope that the two newly established committees of the Economic and Social Council, the Committee on Review and Appraisal and the Committee on Science and Technology for Development, will be able to make an effective contribution in this field, in close co-ordination with the useful work already being done by UNCTAD and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization [UNIDOJ.
81.	Our agenda has nearly a hundred items on it, and I have commented on only a limited number of issues. However, we are conscious that many other problems, whether or not they are included in our agenda, create anxieties and difficulties in many parts of the world. The Secretary-General, in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [A/8701lAdd.l], has given his views on salient aspects of the international scene as it is today, and on the perspective for the future.
82.	In order to complete my presentation I should like to touch upon the Indian experience over the last year or so.
83.	As I said here 12 months ago [1940th meeting], the year 1971 opened for us with great hopes and yet throughout the year we faced endless, and at times nearly insurmountable, difficulties. Confronted with the most appalling difficulties and human tragedies, the Indian people showed remarkable unity and determination. Within three months of the cease-fire nearly all of the 10 million refugees had gone back to their homes in newly independent Bangladesh. Despite our limited resources we have co-operated fully with Bangladesh in the Herculean task of relief and reconstruction.
84.	The Indian people are now engaged in increasing their agricultural and industrial production. The Government of India has introduced programs in order to achieve greater social justice and more satisfying human values for the Indian people as a whole. In that great experiment the Government and people of India look to the United Nations as a continuous source of inspiration and a vast field of co-operation.
85.	Yet our Organization is constantly being enfeebled, if not undermined, in a number of ways. Some seek in it partisan support; others make an issue of money and finance; still others try to use it to underwrite their domestic policies. All of these may appear to some to be legitimate, but developing countries such as India look upon this Organization as a bastion where international peace and justice can be protected and where progress can be assured. For that purpose the great principles of the Charter cannot be pursued selectively: they should be taken in their totality, and applied realistically in a given situation. U Thant has already drawn attention to this problem, and we are anxious that in the coming years it should be possible to work out a viable system in which the seeming contradiction in Charter principles would no longer prove to be a hindrance to solving several international problems of our time.
86.	Such a step, taken together with the more massive and co-operative utilization of modern science and technology, may well fulfill the dream for which this Organization was established. There is a need for vigilance and study to decide how we can make our Organization more representative, more effective and more responsive to the multitude of needs of people all over the world.
87.	Finally, I would simply say that in spite of many setbacks and disappointments the millions and millions of people of India look to this Organization with faith and hope, and wish that this session of the Assembly may take yet another step, however modest, towards achieving the goal of peace, justice and progress.