YouSaid · the spoken record

AMERASINGHE

lines on the record: 359
first: 1967-09-24
most recent: 1975-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
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

“It is universally recognized that steady economic growth in the developing countries, with the improvement in living standards that it brings, is in the general interest of all, and therefore any contribution made by the developed half of the world towards greater economic growth in the developing half is a contribution to the prosperity of all. Such a policy provides a proper mixture of altruism and self-interest. 195. The General Assembly will soon be called upon to adopt an international development strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [A 17982, para. 16] which analyses the problem of development and proposes definite measures of policy.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The third element in the slogan for this Twenty- fifth anniversary session is progress. One of the principal aims of the Charter is the promotion of social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom and to this end Members pledge themselves to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples. In any community economic inequality and social injustice are the chief causes of unrest and instability. This is equally true of the relations between States.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“A disarmament policy, even in the modified form which it has hitherto taken of a partial test-ban treaty, a nonproliferation Treaty and treaties for the peaceful uses of outer space and Antarctica, can be of full effect only if it is accepted by all Powers capable of producing nuclear weapons or of introducing such weapons into prohibited areas. As long as one of the nuclear Powers, the People's Republic of China, is left outside the international pale through the denial of its lawful rights in the United Nations, these measures of disarmament are doomed to failure. A vital contribution to peace is therefore the attainment of universality in the membership of the United Nations. This requires the immediate restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in this Organization. 194.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Strategic arms limitation will reduce the expenditure of the two superPowers on the most expensive types of weapons and will, in one respect, arrest the arms race, but it will not appreciably diminish the aggressive and destructive potential of the superPowers. 193. What is needed immediately is a comprehensive ban on nuclear tests, the cessation of the production of further nuclear weapons, the gradual reduction in the volume of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction that have already been accumulated, and the prohibition of chemical and biological warfare together with the production and stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Next to the eradication of injustice, the prospects of peace and security rest largely in the steady advance towards general and complete disarmament. Although this objective has been adopted by the United Nations it has not yet been clearly defined. There is a tendency today to treat disarmament as a reduction in the lethal capacity of weapons; on the other hand, there is no indication of any willingness on the part of those Powers which are capable of producing the deadliest weapons to forgo one of the means by which they can continue to be refined, that is, the testing of nuclear weapons underground.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“There can be no hope of peace in Africa until those forms of injustice are erased completely. 190. The Lusaka Conference strongly deplored the declared intention of the United Kingdom Government to resume the sale of arms to South Africa. A propos of this proposed change of policy, may I be permitted to introduce a lighter note into this long and serious debate. It seems to me that the United Kingdom delegation to this session might, with apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, say: "We come from haunts of Heath and Home "Who've made a sudden sally "To ponder now the sale of arms "And bolster Vorster's folly." 191. We trust that the recent report to the effect that the United Kingdom Government is reconsidering this policy is true and that that Government will abandon the dark and armored route to Simonstown. 192.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The member countries of NATO should take note of this appeal and be mindful that they will be judged by the opponents of colonialism and the advocates of the right of self-determination for subject peoples, not by their pious professions of loyalty to the concept and policy of decolonization but by their positive response to the Lusaka appeal and their willingness to abandon their present cynical policy. 189. Apartheid remains the ugliest and crudest of policies and practices in our time. The United Nations has failed to arrest its spread from South Africa and Namibia to Zimbabwe, where an illegal racist minority and rebel regime survives and thrives under the direct patronage and support of its avowed allies, the Governments of South Africa and Portugal.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The Government of Portugal has frustrated that hope and continues, with the moral and material support and encouragement of its military allies in NATO, to hold the African peoples in its colonial Territories under bondage and servitude. 188. The Lusaka Conference of NonAligned Nations, held last month, noted with deep concern that Portugal is waging a colonial war of suppression in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau) with NATO arms, and called upon the members of NATO to prevent the sale or supply of weapons and military equipment to the Portuguese Government and to stop the sale or shipment to the Portuguese Government of equipment and materials for the manufacture or the maintenance of weapons and ammunition.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The chief forms of injustice still prevalent in our world are the denial of the right of self determination to peoples still under colonial rule and the monstrous policy of apartheid practiced by the racist regimes of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Member States which honestly subscribe to the principles of the Charter could have fervently hoped that we would celebrate the Twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Charter and inaugurate, simultaneously, the second phase of United Nations existence with the consummation of the process of decolonization formally endorsed 10 years ago by the General Assembly in its resolution 1514 (XV).”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“We must not allow the newly exhibited zeal for hitherto unused forms of procedure to divert our attention from the origins and the real causes of the very serious situations that are an ever-present danger to the peace of the world. The principal cause is injustice. 186. The United Nations has adopted' 'Peace, justice and progress" as its slogan for the Twenty-fifth anniversary, thus proclaiming its objectives as it embarks on the next phase of its existence. We would place justice as the first of our aims, since there can be no peace without justice, nor can there be progress without peace. 187.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Some have been bold enough to prescribe forms of treatment which would be no more efficacious than aspirin as a remedy for cancer. The methods of treatment that have been suggested can serve as little more than temporary palliatives; they take no account of the causes of international disputes, conflicts and tensions that threaten the peace. The only form of treatment that holds out any hope of success is one which treats the cause of the condition that it seeks to heal. 185. Procedural devices must not be neglected. They deserve a trial but they can fulfill only a limited purpose and have a limited range of efficacy, whether they be regular meetings of the Security Council at the level of Foreign Ministers, fact-finding missions or conciliation panels.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“There are no weapons, material or physical, by which such a policy can be enforced. As my Prime Minister stated in her address at the Third Conference of Heads or State or Government of NonAligned Countries, held in Lusaka last month, ". . .the main instrument of nonalignment continues to be that of moral persuasion. Our priorities today are full recognition and acceptance by all nations of the fundamental dignity and equality of all peoples. . . .We seek to preserve our true independence without interference with the rights of others.'' 184. During the general debate, now drawing to a close, Member after Member has appeared in the role of diagnostician, subjecting the ailing United Nations body to an embarrassing clinical examination.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“In organized society, defiance of authority or any transgression of the law is punished with sanctions. Respect for authority can be fostered if individual Members express in some overt manner their disapproval of any State which disregards United Nations resolutions and, more particularly, the resolutions of the Security Council adopted in the discharge of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. This type of moral sanction, if exerted in appropriate cases and in an appropriate manner by an increasing number of Members of the Organization, could be a powerful instrument in the preservation of international law and order. 183. Ceylon professes a policy of nonalignment and has made it the cornerstone of its foreign policy; we shall not waver in pursuing such a policy.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“We believe that nations or States are no more than the legal and constitutional aggregate of their peoples and that the purpose of international relations is to promote contact and, thereby, understanding and goodwill between peoples in different parts of the world. Long years of separation without any perceptible progress towards reunification prove the futility of external attempts at such reunification. A divided people must be left to heal their divisions by negotiation among themselves without external pressure or interference. 182. On all sides we have heard delegations of widely divergent political persuasions stressing the importance of making the United Nations more effective and emphasizing the need for strict compliance with Security Council resolutions as the best means of ensuring United Nations effectiveness.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Critics of our foreign policy would do well to remember that it represents the expression of the will of the people, the sovereign element in a genuine and robust democracy. The decisions taken in the sphere of foreign relations by the new Government in Ceylon are not directed against any particular Power or group of Powers or against any particular interest or group of interests. They are not calculated, nor do we believe that they will tend, to impede progress towards the settlement of any of the problems that have been plaguing the world for years, the unhappy legacy of the Second World War, such as the problem of the division of countries according to the ideological affiliations or predilections of their divided parts.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Before I turn to the problems that face the United Nations today and to the measures that might be taken to give it greater vitality and to resurrect it from its present state of almost complete ineffectiveness in the political sphere, I should like to refer to recent developments in Ceylon's foreign policy. In May of this year a new Government took office in Ceylon, elected by the freely exercised vote of all men and women above the age of eighteen. It was a dramatic demonstration of the power and the glory of democracy and above all of the value of the electoral process, free from any extraneous influences, as a means of selecting the government of a country. It was the authentic voice of the people choosing between parties whose alternative programs, promises and pledges were openly available for free choice.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“My delegation would sincerely hope that one of our good resolutions on this Twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter would be to change our habits in this regard and to pay more attention in the future to substance than to form, to the causes of conflict rather than to its ephemeral manifestations. This session is already being described as an historic one. Whether it proves to be so or not will depend entirely on what we achieve during it. Let us not be too hasty in according it a place in history, which ultimately it may not be found to have deserved. It would be better for us to show the determination, through concrete and positive achievement, to assure it such a place. 181.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“This tendency could not have been better described than it was by the Foreign Minister of Brazil when he referred to our preoccupation with clepsidras, calendars and clocks [1841st meeting]. The United Nations has shown a marked propensity towards this preoccupation. It has become a habit with us to proclaim a year for this and a decade for that. There is no denying the fact that man derives moral sustenance from recollections of the past. Experience has, however, shown that in the United Nations we achieve little more by this process than to create a new committee, generate a fresh and repetitive cycle of rhetoric in more than one forum and produce or fail to produce a resonant declaration or resolution. All this activity insulates us from the world of stark reality and may give us a respite from responsibility.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“As always, he has demonstrated in his treatment of international problems the compassion of the humane and the humanity of the compassionate. 179. It was my expectation that my Prime Minister, the honorable Sirimavo Bandaranaike, would attend the commemorative session and address the General Assembly. Regrettably, she has been obliged to cancel the arrangements she had made to visit New York for this purpose and it has fallen to me, therefore, to represent Ceylon in the general debate. 180. Institutions, like individuals, are inclined to attach an exaggerated importance to the periodical recurrence of certain significant events in their history or their life.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“For my part I would say that one of the most gratifying features of your presidency so far is that you have not used it to preach sermons to us down below on our responsibilities, whether as individual members or as groups. None of us becomes superior to the rest, except in altitude, through elevation to the chair. It is a mark of your greatness that you recognize this fact. 177. It is no reflection on you, Mr. President, that we miss the feminine charm and honored presence of our former President, Mrs. Angie Brooks-Randolph. 178. My delegation would also like to take this opportunity of saluting our chief executive, the distinguished SecretaryGeneral, U Thant, who continues to maintain unblemished his record of devoted and conscientious service to the international community.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“176. Mr. President, the delegation of Ceylon and I, personally, are very happy to see you preside over this, the Twenty-fifth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. It often happens that an individual can adorn a high office just as much as a high office can add luster to its incumbent. In your case, your estimable qualities add to the prestige and standing of an office already held in the highest regard both within and outside the United Nations. To the two priceless attributes of scholarship and skill which you possess in full measure, you bring to your office the advantage of vast and varied experience and, not least of all, the distinction of noble diplomatic lineage. On behalf of the delegation of Ceylon, I extend to you our warmest congratulations and best wishes for your success in guiding our deliberations.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Unencumbered by any commitment to the politics of power, they can, as the United Nations enters this next phase of its existence, legitimately presume to lead the nations of the world in the pursuit of what the Secretary-General has suggested as an appropriate theme for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Organization: peace and progress.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Five years have passed since the Cairo Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries and we are now engaged in a fresh assessment of the role of non-alignment in international affairs. There is a need to do so, as the cold war has lost its original character. While the. two major camps or blocs that existed in 1961 have moved progressively towards better mutual understanding and to the establishment of a modus vivendi, new divisions have occurred where they were least expected. 175. The non-aligned countries must maintain unremitting vigilance to ensure that such developments will promote and to hamper those aims and policies which have been defined as their common concern and which are identical with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. 176.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“They recognized the importance of peaceful coexistence between States with different social and economic systems and they all alike realized the need for international co-operation to improve standards of living in the developing countries of the world. They considered these principles and policies the best prescription for international peace, and security. They did not subscribe to the proposition that a country was morally obliged to state its position between two contending parties. 173. Future generations can best judge whether or not the existence of the non-aligned group at that point of time was a real contribution to the easing of tensions and to the avoidance of a major conflict. 174. In 1964, in Cairo, the principles and policies formulated at Belgrade were reaffirmed and amplified.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Those interests were concentrated on the very problems which the United Nations Charter itself recognized as threats to international peace and security. This community of interests gave the group a cohesion which could not have been maintained merely through their aversion to military alliances with the cold war power blocs. The participants in the Belgrade meeting had a common concern in the eradication of colonialism and neo-colonialism, imperialism and racialism and in general and complete disarmament. They were pledged to the principle of self-determination and independence for all subject peoples and to respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States large and small.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“That meeting brought together a group of countries which were convinced that the cold war as the political expression of the antagonism between two power blocs representing diametrically opposed political and economic ideologies could, with every new accession to one or the other of the blocs, lead to an intensification of international tensions with consequences that were too unpleasant to contemplate. 172. The avoidance of a binding commitment to either of the blocs through membership of their respective military organizations was considered a crucial factor. The creation of a non-aligned group was promoted by the existence of a large area of common interests shared by those who assembled in Belgrade in September 1961.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“A consultative meeting of special representatives of the Governments of non-aligned countries was held in Belgrade from 8 to 12 July this year to examine afresh the role of non-alignment in the present international situation and to assess the value and function of the policy of non-alignment in relation to major international issues. It was in Belgrade in September 1961 that the first Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries took place.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Any examination in detail of the various aspects of the question would not be realistic if there was no agreement on what constituted the limits of the area of national jurisdiction. My Government considers it important that the United Nations should give consideration to convening, without delay, an international conference to review the provisions of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, which is of particular significance in this regard. 170. Meanwhile, it is our hope that all Governments will co-operate and intensify their efforts within and outside the Committee on the sea-bed to ensure that the high aims and purposes set forth in resolution 2467 (XXIII) will be speedily achieved. 171.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“International law, of all branches of law, cannot remain static but must develop in response to the changing needs of the international community whose interests it is intended to serve. It must be ready to explore and, if necessary, accept new concepts that will advance the common good. It must reflect the social conscience of the international community and stand ready to give effect to the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of mankind. 168. The General Assembly in resolution 2467 C (XXIII) dealt with the question of establishing in due time appropriate international machinery for the promotion of the exploration and exploitation of the resources of the area. The nature and form of this machinery and the programme for its establishment require the most careful attention. 169.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Assessments regarding the progress that the Committee has made during the course of the year will vary. The criterion of achievement is invariably expectation. Though progress may be regarded by some as being too slow, it is necessary to bear in mind the immensity of the technical problems that still remain to be overcome, the novelty of some of the legal concepts which the Committee has had to consider, and the diversity of political and economic interests involved. 167. Speaking as the representative of my Government and not in my capacity as Chairman of the Committee, I should like to state that in the view of my Government the sea-bed and the ocean floor and the subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction must be regarded as the common heritage of mankind. We do not shrink from that concept because of its novelty.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“By its resolution 2467 A (XXIII) the General Assembly established a Committee composed of 42 States with a wide mandate to examine the question and make recommendations to the General Assembly on its various aspects. These include the legal principles and norms which would promote international co-operation in the exploration and use of the sea-bed and the ocean floor and ensure the exploitation of their resources for the benefit of mankind, as well as the economic and other requirements which such a regime should satisfy in order to meet the interests of humanity as a whole. The Committee was further empowered to study and make recommendations to the General Assembly on the reservation of the area for peaceful purposes, taking into account the studies and international negotiations being undertaken in the field of disarmament. 166.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Over the last two years the question of the reservation exclusively for peaceful purposes of the sea-bed and the ocean floor and the subsoil thereof underlying the high seas beyond the limits of present national jurisdiction, and the use of their resources in the interests of mankind, has come to be recognized as occupying a position of special importance on the agenda of this Assembly. The mineral wealth of this area is so vast and its potential so tremendous as to call for serious and urgent attention by the international community to measures for its orderly and efficient exploitation and management with special regard to the interests and needs of the developing countries of the world. 165.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This epoch-making arrangement can, however, have the effect of stimulating international trade and economic growth within the developing sectors of the world if there is a commitment and a willingness on the part of the developed nations to use their share of the special drawing rights to augment their contribution to programmes of economic development in developing countries by releasing a portion of their special drawing rights or its equivalent in national currencies, depending on the mechanics of the operation, for the purpose of multilateral economic aid to developing countries through institutions such as the International Development Association. 164.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“If that measure is to serve the purpose of assisting countries faced with chronic balance-of-payment difficulties the special drawing rights should not be considered a mere addition to the wealth of all countries. Treated as such, the arrangement would only have the effect of making the rich richer and the poor slightly less poor, but the relative positions of the developed and developing countries would remain unaltered.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Where the increase in the gross national product is due largely to agricultural production for internal needs but is accompanied by a marked reduction of import capacity, the diversification of the economy through the development of industry is rendered almost impossible. We trust that the strategy for the Second Development Decade will provide an answer to this problem. We have referred to only one of the many problems of development. 163. We welcome the agreement just reached within the International Monetary Fund to create an addition to international liquidity in the form of special drawing rights, which has been somewhat profanely dubbed as paper gold, amounting to $9.5 thousand million over a period of three years.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Ceylon’s experience has shown that improvement in the gross national product can come entirely or largely through increases in production for domestic use, but along with a steady and serious decline in external resources. Although Ceylon succeeded in 1968 even in exceeding the growth rate of 5 per cent set as the target for the First Development Decade, the sharp fall in the export price of our main export commodity, tea, drastically reduced our import capacity. A growth rate can be illusory and even precarious if a country’s import capacity is not maintained and strengthened by stability in its export prices and by an improvement in such prices.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“They must ensure a proper balance between the needs of development and the demands of elementary social justice, ensuring steady progress in that direction. Above all, if the strategy is to succeed, there must be a firm commitment by the affluent section of the world to provide the capital resources and to pursue the financial and economic policies required for its fulfilment. We do not deny that the developing nations also have a concomitant obligation. The report of the Pearson Commission comes at a very opportune moment. It contains many valuable recommendations. We trust that it will receive the serious attention that it deserves. 162. An important aspect of the problem of development is external finance.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“To seek to prevent such developments within the Indian Ocean area is not to interfere with the freedom of the high seas. One of the most precious of all freedoms is the freedom from fear and that could be ensured if the Indian Ocean area were declared an area of peace and if all countries accepted such a declaration and honoured it. 161. The United Nations is on the eve of launching a Second Development Decade. Profiting by the experience of the First Development Decade, a strategy for the 70s is being carefully worked out. One of the vital elements in this strategy must be the determination of realistic rates of economic growth for individual nations and for the world as a whole. These rates must be more than an aspiration. They must represent not the desirable but the attainable.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It might even enable the continent of Asia to discover its real identity and, while promoting the material welfare of its peoples, to undertake a role in international affairs that would be more in keeping with its priceless moral and spiritual heritage. 160. While on the subject of Asian security, we must take note of disturbing trends in the Asian region, including the Indian Ocean area. The gradual dismantling of the military establishment of a major Power in that region has led to speculation on the need for the so-called vacuum to be filled by other means. We are aware of the installation of certain logistic arrangements in islands in the Indian Ocean. Developments of this type are not calculated to promote security and ease tensions. Many nations in Asia view them with concern.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“An Asian collective security scheme for defence purposes would, if it embraced all the nations of Asia, be superfluous. If it were not comprehensive in its membership, it would, far from promoting security, merely increase insecurity and be a nuisance. Furthermore, it would be at complete variance with the principles of non-alignment and, therefore, could hardly be acceptable to the non-aligned nations of Asia. 159. If, however, the concept of collective security connotes co-operation between the nations of Asia in trade and economic development, in cultural promotion and in the pacific settlement of local disputes and problems, it could undoubtedly promote security and should be welcomed by all.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The Bandung Declaration was resolutely opposed to such schemes. 158. A collective security scheme in the military sense, as far as Asia is concerned, would be designed to serve two purposes: to protect any Asian country from outside attack or to protect any Asian country or group of countries from attack by a member of the region. Any such scheme of security would entail the obligation on the part of its members to make a contribution in the form of armed forces and armaments and would result in the diversion of a portion of their meagre resources from economic development to meet this obligation. At a time when efforts are being made to ensure the redundancy of such regional pacts as NATO and the Warsaw Pact, we must question the prudence of creating a similar scheme for Asia.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“They were further elaborated in the Bandung Declaration of April 1955 on the promotion of world peace and co-operation. That Declaration contains all the relevant commandments for a stable international order. We need only to summon the will and the determination to adhere to those principles. 157. Schemes of collective security become necessary only because these principles are ignored. The delegation of Ceylon looks askance at the idea of dividing the world into regions for the organization of collective security. The idea of collective security has always been associated with the organization of the means of defence against possible attack. The best examples are NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Others are the South-East Asia Treaty Organization and the Central Treaty Organization.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In this context a system of collective security for Asia has been specially mentioned. It is a truism that international peace and security can be ensured only if in their international relations all Governments accept and observe the principles of peaceful coexistence between States irrespective of their social or economic systems, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, renunciation of the threat or use of force in the settlement of disputes between countries, abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of countries, and promotion of mutual interests and co-operation between States. Those are the five cardinal precepts which have come to be known as the Pancha Shila of international relations. They constitute the essence of the United Nations Charter.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“There is no lack of assurance in the Lusaka Manifesto of the determination of its signatories to combine with all groups, with patience and understanding in building an Africa where all races will be equal, discrimination outlawed, vengeance eschewed and the brotherhood of man exalted. The world will anxiously await the answer of the Governments of Portugal and South Africa, and of the white rebels of Southern Rhodesia. If they fail to give a favourable response to the Lusaka Manifesto, they will be answerable to all humanity for the consequences. 156. Attention has been drawn to the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter regarding the possibility of recourse to regional arrangements or agencies for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In considering the problems of colonialism, apartheid and racialism careful attention should be paid to the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa proclaimed by the Fifth Summit Conference of East and Central African States held at Lusaka from 14 to 16 April 1969. There we have a testament of human equality, human dignity and self-determination expressed with sober and statesmanlike restraint and moderation. The Lusaka Manifesto asks for only one gesture from the white communities of South Africa — that they declare their commitment to these principles. If this commitment is made, Africa can be spared the painful agony and pitiless violence of racial conflict.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The composition of the representation at the Paris talks is a clear recognition of the position of the National Liberation Front in the South. Their representation in any interim administration in the South would be a mere acceptance of the realities of the situation. The indispensable ingredients of a settlement are a cease-fire, a temporary reorganization in the administration of South Viet-Nam to make it more representative of the will of the people, the withdrawal of foreign troops and free elections. Thereafter the final unification of the country would be the sole responsibility of the leaders of the people of both parts of that divided nation. We would appeal to all the parties concerned to adhere scrupulously to the principles and provisions of the Geneva Agreements of 1954. 155.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The reduction in the United States commitment of forces in Viet-Nam and the hope of further reductions in the level of foreign participation in the war are an encouraging sign and must be recognized as a contribution, however small or isolated it may seem to some, towards the cessation of the conflict and the creation of conditions in which the covenants of peace could be discussed. If a military victory is beyond the reach of either party and if peace cannot be secured except through the imposition of terms of surrender by one or the other, the only alternative is a political compromise on terms which would recognize unequivocally the right of the Viet-Namese people to determine their own future and to choose for themselves the type of government they want. 154.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The Paris talks were possible because the combatants finally realized that a political settlement was the last hope and that this could be achieved only if the affairs of Viet-Nam were discussed by the parties immediately concerned. 152. However, after 18 months of talks, peace like a wayward wanton taunts the negotiators in Paris and continues to elude their seemingly avid grasp. The circumstances were never more favourable for a settlement, and it would be tragic if the opportunity were frittered away by excessive obduracy on the part of either side or by a failure to grasp the realities of the situation. 153.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It rests with them to insist, first, on Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it now occupies by the anachronistic right of conquest and, thereafter, on the implementation of the rest of the terms of the resolution by all the parties concerned. This can in no sense of the term be described as an imposition of a settlement on sovereign Powers. 151. In Viet-Nam, after years of what would now, in gloomy retrospect, seem to have been senseless slaughter and destruction, the exemplary and unexceptionable principle that the people of Viet-Nam must be left free to determine their own internal affairs and choose their own political system was ultimately vindicated when the Paris negotiations were instituted in March 1968.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Peace cannot be ensured in the Middle East by the redrawing of boundaries, but by a spirit of reconciliation and tolerance on both sides, by a recognition of the right of all parties to exist in peace and security and by a permanent solution of the problem of the Palestinian refugees through full and fair restitution to those dispossessed and displaced by the act of partition of Palestine. There are no boundaries that are secure while injustice prevails. The four major Powers have both the duty and the capacity to bring peace to the Middle East and to avert a conflagration that could envelop the world.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)