In the absence of the chairman of my delegation owing to a sudden indisposition, the honour has fallen to me of speaking in his place and of making my country's contribution to this general debate.
2. First of all, may I address to you, Mr. President, my congratulations on your election to the high office of President of the General Assembly at its fifteenth session. Your dedication and zeal in upholding the principles of our Organization have won you the respect and admiration of all. The contribution which you have made to the work of the United Nations as representative of your country and as chairman of various bodies gives us the assurance that in you the Assembly has elected an eminently well-qualified presiding officer. I am sure that as President you will be able to add fresh lustre to our debates.
3. I should like also to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to our outgoing President, Mr. Victor Belaúnde of Peru, who so ably directed the work of the Assembly during the fourteenth session.
4. We have reached the fifteenth milestone in the history of our Organization. At each annual meeting we have been faced with a set of new problems and issues, but never before has the world been confronted with the dangers inherent in a situation that is changing so swiftly yet is at the same time so rich in possibilities. We live in a time of great upheavals. Recent technological achievements have profoundly modified man's ideas concerning himself and the world he lives in. Man's penetration of outer space had added a new dimension to life. Under the impact of new ideas and new developments the old pattern is undergoing unprecedented changes. New weapons of mass destruction have brought the world face to face with the threat of the total annihilation of the human species. Meanwhile, as the disintegration of colonialism continues at an increasing pace, new nations with high hopes and expectations are continuing to join the community of sovereign nations. Everywhere the emphasis is on change.
5. It is a great blessing that we have the United Nations as a stabilizing force in this rapidly changing world. Drawn by its magnetism, men who bear the heavy burden of responsibility come from every corner of the earth and meet here to exchange Ideas and express their views on important international issues. Here distinguished statesmen join together in a common effort to identify the causes of international friction and to evolve acceptable solutions. At these annual sessions impetuous action gives way to reflection and restraint; wisdom and tolerance prevail over hate and indignation. It is in meetings such as these, under the auspices of the United Nations that the hopes of mankind are placed.
6. Because the world needs the United Nations, and out of respect for the principles for which it stands, I should like once again to reaffirm most solemnly our faith in the principles of the Charter, and to declare that those principles will guide our conduct in all matters, from petty bilateral differences to the gravest international problems.
7. When we gathered in this hall in September 1959 there was an unmistakable climate of understanding and optimism because of the apparent relaxation of international tensions. The world was looking forward to the Paris Conference of the Heads of the Four Powers. People everywhere hoped that a measure of agreement among the participants would bring relaxation and relief to the world. However, the collapse of the Paris conference and the aftermath of that failure shattered our hopeful expectations. Today — a year later — we are still grappling with the same issues; once again relations among the great Powers are dominated by mistrust and tension.
8. Although our annual meeting is taking place against a background of events that are far from encouraging, we must not despair. There have been certain trends and developments in international relations which inspire some confidence and hope.
9. In the first place, our Organization has grown in stature as an instrument of peace. In grappling with critical and in some cases explosive situations, the United Nations has gradually become a dynamic and vital political organism.
10. In the Congo, timely United Nations intervention has played a large part in introducing into an exceptionally difficult and threatening situation the stabilizing elements necessary to restore peace and order. In this connexion, I should like to mention the decisive role of the Security Council, and to-pay a well deserved tribute to Mr. Hammarskjold, whose ability and impartiality we have always admired from the beginning of his term of office as Secretary-General of our Organization. The renewed vitality of the Security Council has given us (in opportunity to observe the indefatigable zeal and remarkable authority with which he has wholeheartedly thrown himself into carrying out the great task entrusted to him by the Organization. Mr. Hammarskjold’s able and effective handling of a most delicate situation has given new scope and significance to the functions of his office. The breadth and delicate nature of his responsibilities have linked the prestige of our Organization to the outcome of his mission. He may rest assured of our unstinting support.
11. There are today many international problems that deserve the most careful thought and deliberation. However, at this stage of our work, I shall confine my remarks to a few international problems that we regard as particularly important.
12. The unprecedented and increasingly rapid development of weapons of mass destruction has made the balance between life and death more precarious than ever. The threat of complete annihilation, as a result of which an accident may decide the fate of all mankind, should induce every nation — and especially the great Powers — to redouble their efforts to find a solution to this problem.
13. We had an opportunity of stating our views on this question in the Disarmament Commission which met; from 16 to 18 August 1960 at United Nations Headquarters. I wish now merely to mention certain important factors underlying our approach to this problem. We believe that suspicion, mistrust and lack of mutual understanding have wrecked every collective endeavour in the past to reach an effective and lasting agreement on the reduction of armaments. And this view has once again been confirmed in the negotiations undertaken by the United Nations.
14. Any serious disarmament proposal must provide for an adequate and effective system of control. Machinery for control generates confidence, if only through constraint. We have in mind an agency that would supervise the application of the proposed plans and ensure that contractual obligations were respected.
15. But we cannot allow past set-backs and disappointments to discourage us or prevent us from continuing our quest for a solution. The participation of every Member of the United Nations in the last session of the Disarmament Commission, shows clearly that no Member dares — and I repeat dares — shirk the responsibility of being present when the disarmament question is discussed. The Disarmament Commission’s unanimous approval of an appeal calling for the earliest possible resumption of the great Powers negotiations is indeed a great achievement when set against the background of the tension created by the sudden collapse of the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament. This sense of responsibility and spirit of co-operation must be wisely and patiently sustained in the future until our efforts bear fruit in a practical solution. There can be no doubt that only an agreement on disarmament could lay the real foundation for a world finally freed from tyranny of need and fear. Such an agreement would also bring about a situation in which at least a proportion of the untold millions now allocated to military expenditures could be used to finance economic development throughout the world. It must be our earnest hope that the General Assembly will be able in the course of this fifteenth session to make constructive proposals with a view to the conclusion of such an agreement.
16. I should now like to say a few words about man's penetration of outer space. This relatively new achievement, which Is so bold that we are constantly dazzled by the prospects opened up to modern man, has such far-reaching implications that our time has been rightly called the space age.
17. The question that must be answered is how this vast resource called space should be managed. Should it be governed by law and used for the good of all mankind, or should it be made an arena for national rivalries and become the spoil of the few? It is heartening that as yet no State has claimed any part of outer space or demanded any privileged portion in that respect. However, the fact that nothing like this has yet happened does not necessarily mean that it is outside the realm of possibility.
18. Unfortunately, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has not met since the last session of the Assembly. At the Committee's previous meeting, the absence of the Soviet Union delegation left a serious gap. The Committee decided to proceed with caution in order to avoid endangering its subsequent activities. Nevertheless, the prospects of holding another session seem hardly encouraging for the moment. Here again, the initiative in negotiations on outer space can only come from the great Powers. For its part, my Government feels that the United Nations should not allow the formulation of space law to be indefinitely postponed.
19. In this connexion it is worth recalling that the future of the Antarctic is still not settled because no determined and concerted international effort was made in the early stages to define the status of the continent. I hope that this session of the Assembly will succeed in reconciling the divergent views of the two space Powers and in bringing about a meeting of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
20. The awakening of the African continent, which has been an outstanding feature of the history of colonized peoples during the past decade and was most recently expressed in the admission of thirteen new African States to Membership in the United Nations, is one of the most significant developments in modern international life. The African group which, a mere ten years ago, comprised only four independent countries, will soon have twenty-four representatives, thus becoming the largest group in the United Nations and bringing the total number of African-Asian representatives to forty-four. This development in itself represents the final steps in the liquidation of the colonial system and its replacement at the international level by the voluntary cooperation of free peoples that are the masters of their own great destinies. That is a dazzling victory for the liberated peoples. But it is undoubtedly also no less significant a victory for all the peoples of the world and, in large measure, for the United Nations.
21. We are sure that the participation of these new Members in the work of our Assembly will make the United Nations a still more effective instrument in the service of peace and freedom for all mankind. My delegation is proud of its record of vigorous support for the natural right of these peoples to self-determination. We have therefore particular pleasure in wishing them a future of increasing progress and prosperity and in repeating to them, and to the people of Cyprus whose representative we are happy to welcome into our midst, the good wishes voiced in this Assembly a few days ago by the representative of Afghanistan.
22. More particularly, we wish to express our hope that the ties between the new Members and the United Nations itself will continue to be strengthened in new forms and will thus permit the gradual and orderly development of those peoples towards complete liberation from economic and social servitudes. My delegation is convinced that for our peoples and for the international community as a whole, close cooperation is on these lines increasingly becoming the key to our common welfare.
23. I should like now to turn to another important aspect of the work of the United Nations — the development of under-developed countries. This year, as in previous years, speakers from the less developed countries will once again, as so often in the past, have to draw attention to the continually widening gap between the developed and under-developed countries. This imbalance in the world economy and the resulting deep division in the community of nations underline the need for greater economic co-operation. The development gap is a source of instability that must be eliminated by concerted action. It is a truism that economic development is essentially the task of the under-developed countries themselves and sometimes requires heroic sacrifices from their peoples. But the situation in most of the less developed countries is such that they are not in a position to finance the necessary rate of economic growth from their own resources.
24. I should like to express my Government's appreciation of the valuable help we have received under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and from the United Nations Special Fund. I have pleasure in announcing that this year my Government has doubled its contribution to the two programmes. This is the most practical token we can offer of our interest in and our admiration for the great work being done under the United Nations technical assistance programmes.
25. United Nations economic assistance is by no means insignificant, but it may appear so when we think of its staggering objective of improving the economic conditions of the 1,000 million people who live in the less developed countries. Without wishing to underestimate the value of the work so far accomplished under the United Nations programmes of technical assistance, I would emphasize that the need for creating an agency to finance economic development is more urgent than ever. Every effort should therefore be made to encourage the great Powers to participate in an agency on the lines of the Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED).
26. The Economic and Social Council should take a greater initiative in defining appropriate means of developing the international aspect of economic and financial assistance. The time has come to give serious attention to the question of enlarging the Economic and Social Council in order to reflect the growth in the membership of the United Nations. Two-thirds of the world's peoples have launched a large-scale offensive in the economic and social fields. The success of this world-wide endeavour depends in large measure on the generous and disinterested co-operation of the United Nations on an ever-widening basis. I hope that this session of the Assembly will be fully conscious of its responsibility in this field.
27. I feel it would be proper if I turn at this point to a brief analysis of certain regional trends and developments.
28. Our Charter prescribes inter alia that the nations should live together in peace with one another as good neighbours. Because of its Importance, this question has been discussed at earlier sessions and the Assembly has adopted resolutions in which it reaffirmed the need for peaceful and neighbourly relations among the Members of the United Nations.
29. As a country of the Middle East, Iran is naturally interested in the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in that region. By stabilizing its own political and economic situation, my country has thus become one of the stabilizing factors in that part of the world.
30. We are sparing no effort to consolidate, to the best of our ability, our friendly and neighbourly relations with the countries of the region. We have the most friendly relations with our allies, Turkey and Pakistan. We continue to maintain fraternal and cordial relations with Afghanistan. I also have pleasure in announcing that our relations are being normalized, in a spirit of mutual understanding, with Iraq, thus making it possible, we firmly hope, to settle by friendly negotiation the questions pending between the two countries. Finally, we are gratified to note certain encouraging signs in the relations of the USSR with our country. We would like to hope that these developments will dispel the clouds that have overshadowed our mutual relations and will become a solid basis for a policy of neighbourliness and mutual respect.
31. Mr. President, you have rightly stressed the historic importance of this Assembly which you have so eloquently described as the "Assembly of humanity". I can assure you that my delegation will make a very sincere, albeit humble, contribution to the work of this Assembly. More particularly, I hope that the work of this session will produce concrete results and will lead to a lasting solution of the most dangerous problem of our time — disarmament.
32. It is gratifying that the leaders of the two; great Powers which bear particular responsibility for the maintenance of world peace have emphasized their profound interest in the solution of the general problem of world peace. We trust that these statements are a happy augury and we earnestly hope that this Assembly will be successful in restoring the- climate of confidence that was so greatly weakened by the collapse of the summit conference.