YouSaid · the spoken record

Sukarno

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS SUKARNO

lines on the record: 99
first: 1960-09-24
most recent: 1960-09-24
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Here is a sad picture in which both sides are being bled and ruined for lack of a solution. This is a tragedy! It is quite clear that the people of Algeria want independence. There can be no argument about that. If they had not, then this long and bitter and bloody struggle would have ended years age. The thirst for independence and the determination to achieve that independence are the central factors in this situation. 106. What is not yet decided is just how close and harmonious should be the future co-operation with France. Very close and very harmonious co-operation should not be difficult to achieve even at this stage, although perhaps it gets more difficult as the days of struggle pass. 107.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Have confidence in them as a newly liberated nation, and they will find their own way to their own solution of their own problems. 104. I will here utter a very serious warning. Many Members of this body and many servants of this body are perhaps not too well aware of the workings of imperialism and colonialism. They have never experienced it. They have never known its tenacity and its ruthlessness and its many faces and its evil. We of Asia and Africa, we have. I tell you: do not/act as the innocent tool of imperialism. If you do, then you will assuredly kill this Organization of the United Nations, and with it you will kill the hope of countless millions and perhaps you will make the future stillborn. 105. Before leaving these questions, I wish to mention another great issue somewhat similar in nature. I refer to Algeria.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“There must be no interference in the internal affairs of the Congo, and certainly no open or hidden support for disintegration. 101. Yes, of course, that nation will make mistakes. We all make mistakes, and we all learn from mistakes. Yes, there will be turbulence; but let that go on, too, for it is a sign of rapid growth and development. The extent of that turbulence is a question for the nation itself. 102. Let us, individually or collectively, assist there if we are requested to do so by the lawful Government of that nation. However, any such assistance must be clearly based upon the unquestioned sovereignty of the Congo. 103. Finally, have confidence in that nation. They are going through a time of great trial, and are suffering deeply.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Tearing up the deep roots of vested interests, national and international, always causes pain and dislocation. We know that. We know, too, from our own experience, that development itself creates turbulence. A turbulent nation needs leadership and guidance, and it will eventually produce its own leadership and guidance. 99. We Indonesians, we speak from bitter experience. The problem of the Congo, which is a problem of colonialism and imperialism, must be solved by application of those principles I have already mentioned. The Congo is a sovereign State. Let that sovereignty be respected. Remember: the sovereignty of the Congo is no less than the sovereignty of any nation represented in this Assembly, and it must be respected equally. 100.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Remove those checks to freedom and emancipation and the threat to peace disappears. Eradicate imperialism, and the world becomes, immediately and automatically, a cleaner place, a better place, a more secure place. 97. I know that when I say this, the minds of many will turn to the situation in the Congo. You may ask: has not imperialism been ejected from the Congo with the result that there is now strife and bloodshed? It is not so! The deplorable situation in the Congo is caused directly and immediately by imperialism, not by its ending. Imperialism sought to maintain its foothold in the Congo, sought to mutilate and cripple the new State. That is why the Congo is in flames. 98. Yes, there is agony in the Congo. But that agony is the birth pang of progress, and explosive progress always brings pain.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Our present determined efforts to reach a solution by our own methods is part of our contribution towards securing the peace of this world. It is part of our effort to end this world problem of an obsolete evil. It is a determined surgical effort to remove the cancer of imperialism from the area of the world in which we have our life and being. 95. I tell you in all seriousness, the situation in West Irian is a dangerous situation, an explosive situation; it is a cause of tension and it is a threat to peace. General Nasution is not responsible for that. Our soldiers are not responsible for that. Sukarno is not responsible for that. Indonesia is not responsible for that. No! The threat to peace springs directly from the very existence of colonialism and imperialism. 96.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We have tried seriously and with great patience and great tolerance and great hope. We have tried bilateral negotiations. We tried that seriously, and for years. We tried, and we persevered. We have tried using the machinery of the United Nations, and the strength of world opinion expressed here. We tried, and we persevered with that too. But hope evaporates; patience dries up; even tolerance reaches an end. They have all rim out now, and the Netherlands has left us no alternative but to stiffen our attitude. If they fail correctly to estimate the current of history, we are not to blame. But the result of their failure is that there is a threat to peace, and that involves, once again, the United Nations. 93. West Irian is a colonial sword poised over Indonesia. It points at our heart, but it also threatens world peace. 94.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Those two bodies of troops face each other, and I tell you that is an explosive situation. Very recently those young and misguided troops who were in West Irian defending an outmoded conception were reinforced by an aircraft carrier, the Karel Doorman, from their remote homeland. I tell you that then the situation became positively dangerous. 91. The Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Army sits in my delegation. There he is. His name is General Naisution. He is a professional soldier and an excellent one. Like the soldiers he leads, and like the nation they defend, he is first and foremost a man of peace. More than that, though, he and our soldiers and my nation are dedicated to the defence of our homeland. 92. We have tried to solve the problem of West Irian.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I know, because my own nation did that very thing during our struggle for independence. We fought then with knives and pointed sticks. In order to make peace, we must remove the causes of tension and of conflict. That is why I spoke deep from my heart about the necessity of co-operation to bring about the final inglorious end of imperialism. 90. Where there is imperialism, and where there are simultaneously armed forces, then the position is a dangerous one indeed. Again, I speak from experience. That is the situation in West Irian. That is the situation in the one-fifth of our national territory which still labours under imperialism. There in West Irian we have imperialism and the armed forces of imperialism. Bordering that territory, our own troops stand guard by land and sea.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“At the present time, the testing of nuclear weapons is suspended — not, mark you well, forbidden, but only suspended. Let that fact serve as the beginning, then. Let that fact serve as a basis for prohibition of testing, and then for real disarmament. 88. Before leaving the subject of disarmament, I must make one more comment. To speak of disarmament is good. Seriously to attempt the making of a disarmament agreement would be better. Best of all would be the implementation of an agreement on disarmament. However, let us be realistic. Even the implementation of a disarmament agreement would not guarantee peace to this sore and troubled world. Peace will come only when the causes of tension and conflict are removed. 89. If there is a cause for conflict, then men will fight with pointed sticks, if they have no other weapon.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Think of the tremendous impetus which could be given to the development of the under-developed, if even only a part of the defence budgets of the great Powers were diverted in that direction. Think of the vast increase in human; happiness, human productivity and human welfare, if this were done. 87. I must add one word on this subject. If there is any greater immorality than the brandishing of hydrogen weapons, then it is the testing of those weapons. I know that there is scientific disagreement about the genetical effect of those tests. That disagreement, however, is in terms of the numbers affected. It is agreed that there are evil genetical effects. Have those who authorize the tests ever seen the results of what they do? Have they looked at their own children and thought about those results?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“And this problem is of such vital importance for the whole of mankind that all of mankind should be involved in its solution. In fact I think we may say now that only pressure and effort from the non-aligned nations will produce the results which the whole world needs. Genuine discussion of disarmament, within this body, and based upon a, real desire for success, is essential now. I stress "within this body", for only this Assembly begins to approach a true reflection of the world in which we live. 86. Think, please, for a moment, of what would be possible if we could evolve a basis for genuine disarmament. Think of the vast funds which would be available for improving the world in which we live.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is obvious that the problem of disarmament is not only disagreement on narrow technical grounds. It is a question also of mutual trust. In fact, it is clear that on technical matters and on methods, the two blocs are not very far apart. The problem is rather one of mutual distrust. It is a problem open to solution by methods of discussion and diplomacy. Surely we of Asia and Africa, and the other non-aligned countries, can help in this. We are not short of experience and skill in negotiating. Perhaps our intermediation would be of value. Perhaps we could assist in finding a solution. Perhaps — who knows — we could show you the way to the only real disarmament, which is disarmament in the heart of man, the disarmament of man's mistrusts and hatreds. 85. Nothing could be more urgent than this.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We would only watch with detachment, filled with wonder that those nations from which we have learned so much, and which we have admired so much, should today have sunk into such a morass of immorality. We could cry: "A curse upon you" and we could retire into our own more balanced and peaceful world. 82. But we cannot do that. Already we Asians have suffered atomic bombing. We Asians also are threatened again, and furthermore we feel a moral duty to help in any way we can. We are not the enemies of the East nor of the West. We are part of this world, and we wish to help. 83. This is a cry from the heart of Asia. Let us help you solve these problems. Perhaps you have looked at them too long, and no longer see them clearly. Let us help you, and in helping you, we will help ourselves, and all the future generations of the world. 84.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Those who are discussing nuclear disarmament must never forget that we, who in this have previously been inarticulate, are watching and are hoping. 79. We are watching and we are hoping, and yet we are filled with anxiety because, if nuclear warfare devastates our world, we, too, are the sufferers. 80. No human being has the right to usurp the prerogatives of God. No person has the right to use hydrogen bombs. No nation has the right to cause the probable destruction of all nations. 81. No political system, no economic organization, is worth the destruction of the world, including that system or organization itself. If the hydrogen-armed nations alone were involved in this issue, we of Asia and Africa would not care.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Upon questions of imperialism and nationalism, I am an expert, after a lifetime of study and struggle, and upon those matters I speak with authority. But upon questions of nuclear warfare, I am just another man, perhaps like the man who lives next door to you, or like your brother or even your father. I share their horror; I share their fear. 76. I share that horror and that fear because I am part of this world. I have children, and their future is in danger. I am an Indonesian, and that nation is in danger. 77. Those who wield those weapons of mass destruction must today face their own conscience, and, finally, perhaps charred to radioactive dust, they must face their Maker. I do not envy them. 78.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We oppose it on humanitarian grounds, and we oppose it on the grounds that it presents a great and growing threat to peace. 72. Our disagreement with the colonial Powers centres on questions of timing and security, for they now pay at least lip service to the ideal of national freedom. 73. Think deeply, then, about nationalism and independence, about patriotism and about imperialism. Think deeply, I beg you, lest the tide of history wash over you. 74. Today, we hear and read much about disarmament. That word refers usually to nuclear and atomic disarmament. Forgive me, please. I am a simple man, and a man of peace. I cannot speak of the details of disarmament. I cannot pass judgement upon rival views concerning inspection, concerning underground testing, and concerning seismographic records. 75.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Is not the world a better place that they should sit here Instead of devoting all their lives and all their strength to the overthrow of the imperialism which bound them? And their nations, too, are free, and my nation is free, and many more nations are free. Is not the world thus a better and a richer place? 70. Indeed, I do not have to explain to you that we of Asia and Africa are opposed to colonialism and imperialism. More than that, who is there in the world today who will defend those things? They are universally condemned, and rightly so, and the old cynical arguments are no longer heard. Conflict now centres on when colonies are to be free, not on whether they are to be free. 71. However, I will stress this point: our opposition to colonialism and imperialism comes from both the heart and the head.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Do not withhold them, lest this body be discredited and deserted. Our task is not to defend this world, but to build the world anew. The future — if there is to be a future — will judge us on the record of our success at this task. 69. Do not, I beg of you older established nations, underestimate the force of nationalism. If you doubt its force, look around this Chamber and compare it with San Francisco fifteen years ago. Nationalism — victorious, triumphant, Rationalism — has wrought this change, and it is good. Today, the world is enriched and ennobled by the wisdom of leaders of sovereign nations newly established. To mention but six examples out of many, there is a Norodom Sihanouk, a Nasser, a Nehru, a Sekou Touré, a Mao Tse-Tung in Peiping, and a Nkrumah.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Do that, and you will gain the full and whole-hearted support of all men of good will. Do that now, and future generations will applaud you. I appeal to you, to all Members of the United Nations: move with the tide of history; do not try to stem that tide. 66. The United Nations has today the opportunity of building for itself a great reputation and prestige. Those who struggle for freedom will seek support and allies where they can: how much better that they should turn to this body and to our Charter rather than to any group or section of this body. 67. Remove the causes of war, and we shall be at peace. Remove the causes of tension, and we shall be at rest. Do not delay. Time is short. The danger is great. 68. Humanity the world over cries out for peace and rest, and those things are within our gift.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Still — and mark my words well-the dying imperialism is dangerous, as dangerous as the wounded tiger in a tropical jungle. 64. I tell you this — and I am conscious of speaking now for my Asian and African brothers — the struggle for independence is always justified and always just. Those who resist that irresistible onward march of national independence and self-determination are blind; those who seek to reverse what is irreversible are dangers to themselves and to the world. 65. Until these facts — and they are facts — are recognized, there will be no peace in this world, and no release of tension. I appeal to you: place the authority and the moral power of this organization of States behind those who struggle for freedom. Do that clearly. Do that decisively. Do that now.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Some of you are born of those nations which have inflicted imperialism on others, but you have never suffered it yourselves. However, my brothers of Asia and Africa have known the scourges of imperialism. They have suffered it. They know its dangers, its cunning, its tenacity. 62. We of Indonesia know, too. We are experts on the subject. Out of that knowledge and out of that experience, I tell you that continued imperialism in any of its forms is a great and continuing danger. 63. Imperialism is not yet dead. People sometimes say that imperialism and colonialism are dead. No, imperialism is not yet dead. It is dying, yes. The tide of history is washing over its battlements, and undermining its foundations. Yes, the victory of independence and nationalism is certain.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Such issues are of vital concern to us, and I shall return to them later. But look around this world of ours. There are tensions and sources of potential conflict in many places. Look closer at those places and you will discover that, almost without exception, imperialism and colonialism in one of their many manifestations is at the root of the tension, of the conflict. Imperialism and colonialism and the continued forcible division of nations — I stress those words — is at the root of; almost all international and threatening evil in this world of ours. Until those evils of a hated past are ended, there can be no rest or peace in all this world. 61. Imperialism — and the struggle to maintain it — is the greatest evil of our world. Many of you in this hall have never known imperialism. Many of you were born free and will die free.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Do you wonder that my voice is now raised in protest? We who were once voiceless have demands and requirements; we have the light to be heard. We are not subjects of barter but living and virile nations with a role to play in this world and a contribution to make. 59. 1 use strong words, and I use them deliberately, because I am speaking for my nation and because I am speaking before the leaders of nations. Furthermore, I know that my Asian and African brothers feel equally strongly, although I do not venture to speak on their behalf. 60. This session of the General Assembly is to be seized of many important matters. No matter, though, can be more important than that of peace. In this respect I am not at this moment speaking of issues arising between the great Powers of the world.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Of course there have been tensions. Yes, there has been danger. But the fast remains that in the midst of a revolution engulfing three-quarters of the world the West has been at peace. Both great blocs, in fact, have successfully practised coexistence for all these years, thus contradicting those who deny the possibility of coexistence. We of Asia have not known peace. After peace came to Europe we endured atomic bombs. We endured our own national revolution in Indonesia. We endured the torment of Viet-Nam. We suffered the torture of Korea. We still suffer the agony of Algeria. Is it now to be the turn of our African brothers? Are they to be tortured while our wounds are still unhealed? 58. And yet the West is still at peace. Do you wonder that we now demand — yes, demand — respite from our torment?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“My nation pledges itself to work for a better world, for a world free from strife and tension, for a world in which our children can grow proud and free, for a world in which justice and prosperity reign supreme for all men. Would any nation refuse such a pledge? 56. Some months ago, just before the leaders of the great Powers met so briefly in Paris, Mr. Khrushchev was our guest in Indonesia. I made it very clear to him that we welcomed the Summit Conference, that we hoped for its success, but that we were skeptical. Those four great Powers alone cannot decide the questions of war and peace. More precisely, perhaps, they have the power to disrupt the peace, but they have no moral right to attempt, singly or together, to settle the future of the world. 57. For fifteen years now the West has known peace — or at least the absence of war.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“This fact is more important than the existence of nuclear weapons, more explosive than hydrogen bombs and of more potential value to the world than atomic fission. 54. The balance of the world has changed since that day in June fifteen years ago when the Charter was signed in the United States city of San Francisco, at a moment when humanity was emerging from the horror of war. The fate of humanity can no longer be decided by a few large and powerful nations. We, too, the younger nations, the burgeoning nations, the smaller nations — we, too, have a word to say, and that word will surely echo down the years, 55. Yes, we are aware of our responsibility to the future of all nations, and we gladly accept that responsibility.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“52. Furthermore, the only possible basis for anybody such as this is strict equality. The sovereignly of the newest nation or the smallest nation is just as precious, just as inviolable as the sovereignty of the largest nation or the oldest nation. And, again, any transgression against the sovereignty of any nation is a potential threat to the sovereignty of all nations. 53. It is within this world picture that we must regard the world today. Our one world is made up of nation States, each equally sovereign, each resolved to guard that sovereignty and each entitled to guard it. And again I say — I repeat this because it is basic to an understanding of the world today — that we live in an era of nation building.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“49. This is an international body. It is not yet either supernational or supranational. It is an organization of nation States and can function only in so far as it is the will of these nation States that it do so. 50. Have we unanimously agreed to surrender any part of our sovereignty to this body? No, we have not. We have accepted the Charter, and that Charter is signed by fully sovereign, fully equal, nation States. 51. It may well be that this body should consider whether its Members should surrender any part of their sovereignty to this international body. But if any such decision is made it must be made freely, unanimously and equally. It must be made by all nations equally — the ancient and the new, the emergent and the old established, the developed and the underdeveloped. This is not something which can be imposed on any nation.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“They have grown accustomed to owning it, but I am convinced that they still hold it the most dear of their possessions and will die rather than give it up. Is it not so? Would your own nation ever give up its independence? Any nation worthy of the name will die first. Any worthy leader of any nation would die first. How much more precious, then, must it be to us, who once held that jewel of independence and national sovereignty, then felt it snatched from our fingers by well-armed brigands, and have now recovered it for ourselves! 48. The United Nations is an organization of nation States, each one of which holds that jewel tight and precious. We have all freely banded together as brothers and equals in this Organization — as brothers and as equals, for we all hold equal sovereignty and we all hold that equal sovereignty equally precious.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Even today, two hundred years later, is there any American who does not thrill at the words of the Declaration of Independence? Is there any Italian who does not today respond to the call of Mazzini? Is there any citizen of Latin America who does not still hear an echo from the voice of San Martin? Indeed, is there any citizen of the world who does not respond to that call and to those voices? We all thrill, we. all respond, because those voices were universal in time and place. They were the voice of suffering humanity; they were the voice of the future, and we hear them still, ringing down the ages. 47. No, I deeply believe that in sovereignty and national independence there is something which endures, something which is as hard and brilliant as a jewel, and far more precious. Many nations of this world have long possessed this jewel.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I am very well aware that the presence here of so many Heads of State and Heads of Government meets the hopes of millions of people. They can take vital decisions on establishing a new look for our world, and consequently also a new look for the United Nations. 43. It is appropriate now to consider the position of the United Nations in relation to this era of nation building and new nationhoods. 44. I tell you this: for a newly born man or a newly reborn nation, the most precious possession is independence and sovereignty. 45. Perhaps it may be — I do not know, but perhaps it may be — that this sense of holding the precious jewel of sovereignty and independence is confined to the nations newly awakened. Perhaps, as generations pass, the sense of pride and achievement grows dim. It may be so, but I do not think so. 46.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We are determined that the fate of the world, which is our world, will not be decided above our heads or over our bodies. It will be decided with our participation and co-operation. Decisions vital to the peace and future of the world can be decided here and now. Here are Heads of State and Heads of Government gathered in one place. There is the framework of our Organization. I very sincerely hope that no questions of rigid protocol, and no narrow feelings of hurt personal or national feelings, will prevent this opportunity from being used fully. A chance like this does not come often. It should be fully exploited. We have a unique opportunity now for combining private and public diplomacy. Let us grasp that opportunity. It may not come again. 42.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We, whose struggle for life was cloaked under the mantle of colonialism, are hidden no more. 40. The world is changed since that historic day in 1945, and it is changed for the better. Out of this era of nation-building has come the possibility — yes, the necessity — of a world free from fear, free from want, free from national oppressions. Today, this very day, at this General Assembly, we could prepare ourselves for a projection into that future world, the world of which we have thought and dreamed and made visions. We can do that, but only if we do not treat this meeting as routine. We must recognize that the United Nations faces a big accumulation of problems, each of them pressing, each of them a possible threat to peace and peaceful progress. 41.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It can be made effective, and it will be made effective, but only in so far as all its Members recognize the inevitabilities of history. It will be effective only in so far as this body follows the course of history and does not attempt to dam or divert or delay that course. 39. I have said that this is the time for the building of nations and the breaking of empires. That is most profoundly true. How many nations have achieved their freedom since the Charter of the United Nations was written? How many peoples have thrown off their chains of oppression? How many empires, built upon the oppression of peoples, have crumbled into dust? We, who were voiceless in the past, are voiceless no more. We, who were silent in the misery of imperialism, are silent no more.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“If you do, then this Organization which has afforded us a hope for the future, a prospect of international conciliation, will perhaps be disrupted. It will perhaps disappear slowly beneath the waves of conflict, as its predecessor did. 37. If that happens, then humanity as a whole will suffer, and a great dream, a great ideal, will have been shattered. Remember: you do not deal only with words. You do not deal with pawns upon a chessboard. You deal with men, and with the dreams of men, and with the ideals of men, and with the future of all men. 38. In all seriousness I tell you; we of the newly independent nations intend to fight for the United Nations. We intend to struggle for its success and to make it effective.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“This most vital of all questions should be discussed and solved within the framework of this Organization. Yet how can there be a realistic agreement on disarmament if China, one of the most powerful nations in the world, is excluded from the deliberations? 34. Representation of China in the United Nations would involve that nation in constructive world affairs and would thus immensely strengthen this body. 35. In this year of 1960, the General Assembly again comes together in its annual gathering. But this General Assembly must not be seen merely as another routine meeting, and if it is so regarded, if it is regarded as a routine meeting, then this whole international Organization may well be threatened with dissolution. 36. Mark my words well, I implore you. Do not treat the problems you will discuss as routine problems.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We do not give our support merely because we have good relations with that country. And certainly we do not do so from any partisan motive. No, our position on this question is guided by political realism. By shortsightedness excluding a vast nation, a nation great and powerful in terms of numbers, culture, the attributes of an ancient civilization, a nation full of strength and economic power, by excluding that nation we make this international Organization much weaker and so much further from our requirements and our ideal. 33. We are determined to make the United Nations strong and universal and able to fulfil its proper function. That is why we consistently support the representation of China in our number. Furthermore, disarmament is a pressing need of our world.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Then tell me whether I am right or not when I way that this is the time of the building of nations, and the time of the emergence of nations. Yesterday, Asia, and that is a process not yet completed. Today, Africa, and that, too, is a process not yet completed. 30. Furthermore, hot all the nations of Asia and Africa are yet represented here. This Organization of nations is weakened in so far as it rejects the representation of any nation, and especially of a nation which is old and wise and powerful. 31. I speak of China. I speak of what is often called Communist China, which is for us the only real China. This Organization is greatly weakened precisely because it rejects the membership of the biggest nation in the world. 32. Every year we support the admission of China to the United Nations. We will continue doing that.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“When that march to liberty is complete the whole world over, then our world will be a better place; it will be a cleaner place and a much more healthy place. We must not cease from struggle at this moment, when victory is in sight, but instead we must redouble our efforts. We have a pledge to the future and that pledge must be fulfilled. In this, we do not struggle for ourselves alone, but we struggle for all mankind, yes, our struggle is even for those against whom we struggle. 29. Five years ago, twenty-nine nations of Asia and Africa sent their representatives to the Indonesian city of Bandung. Twenty-nine nations of Asia and Africa. Today, how many free peoples are there? I will not count them, but look around this Chamber now!”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We live, all of us, and everywhere in the world, in the time of the building of nations and the breaking of empires. This is the era of emerging nations and the turbulence of nationalism. To close the eyes to this fact is to become blind to history, to ignore destiny and to reject reality. We live, I say again, in the time of the building of nations. 27. This process is inevitable and certain; sometimes slow and inevitable, like the movement of molten rock down the side of an Indonesian volcano; sometimes swift and inevitable, like the bursting of floodwaters from behind an ill-conceived dam. Slow and inevitable, or swift and inevitable, the victory of national struggle is a certainly. 28.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“If I may say so, we of Indonesia have a very special interest in the United Nations. We have a very special desire to see this Organization flourish and be successful. By the actions of this Organization, bur own struggle for independence and national life was shortened. I say in full confidence that our struggle would in any case have been successful, but the actions of the United Nations shortened that struggle and saved both us and our opponents many sacrifices and much sorrow and destruction. 25. Why am I confident that our struggle would have been successful, with or without the activity of the United Nations? I am confident of that for two reasons. First, I know my people: I know their unquenchable thirst for national freedom, and I know their determination. Secondly, I am confident of that because of the movement of history. 26.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“If we succeed in solving, for example, the problem of disarmament, then the necessary funds will be available to assist those nations which so urgently need assistance. 23. But it is essential that all these problems should be solved by the application of agreed principles. Any attempt to solve them by the use of power, or the threat of power, or by the possession of power, will certainly fail, and will in turn produce worse problems. Very briefly, the principle which must be followed is that of equal sovereignty of all nations, which is, of course, no more and no less than the application of basic human and national rights. There must be one principle for all nations, and all nations must accept that principle, both for their own protection and for the good of mankind. 24.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I am very sure that the leaders of the younger and the reborn nations can make a very positive contribution to the solution of the many problems facing this Organization and the world at large. Indeed, I am confident that men may once again say: The new world is called to redress the balance of the old. 22. It is clear today that all major problems of our world are inter-connected. Colonialism is connected to security; security is connected to the question of peace and disarmament; disarmament is connected to the peaceful progress of the under-developed countries. Yes, all are connected and inter-connected. If we succeed in finally solving one problem, then the why to the solution of all the others will be open.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“They, and the people of Asia and Africa, of the American continent and the European continent and the people of the Australian continent, are watching and listening, and hoping. They see in this Organization of the United Nations a hope for the future and a prospect for the present. 21. The decision to attend this session of the General Assembly was not an easy one for me to take. My own nation faces many problems, and time to solve those problems is always short. However, this is perhaps the most important Assembly yet held, and all of us have a responsibility to the rest of the world as well as to our own nations. None of us can escape this responsibility, and surely none wish to.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I greatly desire that my words shall strike an echo also in those hearts, in the deep heart of humanity, in that great heart from which has been brought so many shouts of joy, so many cries of sorrow and despair, and so much love and laughter. 19. Today, it is President Sukarno who addresses you. But more than that, though, it is a man, Sukarno, an Indonesian, a husband, a father, a member of the human family. I speak to you on behalf of my people, those ninety-two million people of a distant and wide archipelago, those ninety-two million people who have lived a life of struggle and sacrifice, those ninety-two million people who have built a State upon the ruins of an empire. 20.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I am deeply moved indeed as I survey this Assembly. Here is the proof that generations of struggle have been justified. Here is the proof that sacrifice and suffering have achieved their end. Here is the proof that justice has begun to prevail, and that some great evils have already been banished. 17. Furthermore, as I survey this Assembly, my heart is filled with a great and fierce joy. I see clearly that a new day has dawned, and that the sun of freedom and emancipation, that sun of which we have dreamed so long, is already risen over Africa and Asia. 18.. Now, today I address the leaders of nations and the builders of nations. But, indirectly, I speak also to those you represent, to those who have sent you here, to those who have entrusted their future to your hands.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The Holy Book of Islam has a word for us today. The Koran says in my language: "Hai, sekalian manusia, sesungguhnja Aku telah mendjadikan kamu sekalian dari seorang lelaki dan seorang perempuan, sehinggakamuberbangsabangsa dan bersuku-suku, agar kamu sekalian kenal-men-genal satu sama lain. Bahwasanja jang lebih mulja diantara kamu sekalian ialah, siapa jang lebih takwa kepadaku.” I might translate that as: "O mankind, I, Allah, made you from a male and a female, and divided you into nations and tribes so that you should come to know one another. In truth, those who are most noble before Allah are those who most are in awe of Allah and do good works towards Allah” (Surah 49, verse 14.) And the Bible, too, has a word for us: "Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good will." (Luke 2.14.) 16.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Today, in addressing this session of the United Nations General Assembly, I feel oppressed by a great sense of responsibility. I feel a humility in speaking to this august gathering of wise and experienced statesmen from east and west, from the north and from the south, from old nations and from young nations and from nations newly reawakened from a long sleep. I have prayed to the Almighty that my tongue will find those words which are adequate to express the feelings of my heart, and I have prayed also that these words will bring an echo from the hearts of those who listen. 14. It is my great pleasure to congratulate the President upon his appointment to his high and constructive office. It is also my great pleasure on behalf of my nation to offer a most heartfelt welcome to the sixteen new Members of the United Nations. 15.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)