Nepal

Mr. President, it is my honour and privilege to convey to you and, through you, to the Secretary-General, and to all the distinguished guests, the greetings and best wishes of my Sovereign, King Mahendra, and of the people of Nepal and of His Majesty's Government of Nepal for the success of the eighteenth session of the General Assembly. 96. I wish to associate myself with the previous speakers in extending, on behalf of my delegation, our warmest greetings and felicitations to you, Sir, on your well-deserved election as President of the General Assembly for the present session. May I add that your election is a tribute not only to you and your country but also to the continent of Latin America. May I be permitted also on this occasion to take the liberty of expressing our deep appreciation of the services rendered by your distinguished predecessor, Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, whose mature wisdom and experience put such a firm stamp on the deliberations of the seventeenth session and the fourth special session of the General Assembly over which he presided. 97. I also wish to pay tribute to our Secretary-General, U Thant, whose dedicated efforts and "quiet diplomacy " have not only added dignity to the office of the Secretary-General but have also strengthened the Organization. As a matter of fact, as has been amply borne out by the annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization [A/5501] and the Secretary-General's introduction to the annual report [A/5501 and Add.1 (GA/OR/XVUI) Suppl.1 and 1A], a significant feature in the improved world situation appears to be added strength and dignity which our Organization has attained in contributing to the solution of international problems. A large share of credit for this must duly be given to our Secretary-General, U Thant. 98. Looking back over the progress we have made since we met here last year, we have reason to be satisfied, though, of course, to a limited extent. His Majesty's Government has noted with particular satisfaction that in many important respects the international situation has considerably changed for the better. While the sincerity and earnestness of the efforts made by the world statesmen in search of peace were never in doubt, the last session of the Assembly, so far as we were concerned, was dominated by a feeling of disappointment and some frustration at the lack of progress in negotiations for general and complete disarmament and for the nuclear test ban treaty in particular. 99. The search for peace through general and complete disarmament and through the banning of nuclear tests seemed hopelessly bogged down in a series of endless arguments and counter-arguments. To a world already groaning and smarting under the threat of thermo-nuclear war at any explosive point, were added the sudden, dramatic intensification of the prevailing tension of the Cuban situation and a new, unfortunate, unnecessary tension on the Sino-Indian border, right towards the beginning of the last session. The Cuban crisis and the Sino-Indian crisis posed a serious threat to world peace at that time. The prospects for world peace last year were much gloomier than they are today. 100. In contrast, as has already been noted so eloquently by the previous speakers and notably by the leaders of the two great Powers, the present session starts in a more auspicious atmosphere. The United States and the Soviet Union, upon whom has fallen so much responsibility for maintaining world peace, have worked hard to find a limited language of communication between them. The agreement which is popularly known as the "hot line" agreement and which has been concluded between the United States and the Soviet Union since we met last year in this Assembly, is the first step in this direction. As a result of this agreement, the United States and the Soviet Union are in a position to communicate with each other directly and immediately in case of any serious provocation. 101. Even more important than this has been the recent signing in Moscow of the partial test ban treaty between the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. This treaty, limited in its scope as it is, has been, in our opinion, rightly welcomed all over the world. From now on there is no possibility of water and atmosphere being contaminated with radiation. This is a great relief. His Majesty's Government of Nepal has welcomed all these positive developments towards world peace, towards the relaxation of tension between the two groups of world Powers. However, though extremely significant, the two agreements embody the limited character of the language of communication between them. 102. It is our hope that these efforts for peace will be continued both in the United Nations and outside with the same earnestness and determination as has been evident in the recent signing of the nuclear test ban treaty, until a more comprehensive treaty embodying a complete banning of nuclear tests and another treaty embodying complete and general disarmament are concluded. My delegation has always stressed the paramount need of the world today for these two treaties and from this point of view has placed considerable faith in the seventeen-nation Disarmament Committee meeting at Geneva. The progress made by this Committee, although significant, has been slow and halting. The partial success of the efforts to ban nuclear tests as against the failure of the Disarmament Committee to make headway seems to suggest that real decisions on matters affecting world peace still rest with the big Powers. Nevertheless, since smaller countries are involved in the frightening consequences of war without having any real control over the decisions of war, they cannot persuade themselves to believe that this is a matter with which they cannot concern themselves. 103. Whoever makes the decision of war, either deliberately or through accident, will make a decision that will affect large human masses in smaller as well as larger countries. In other words, the number of countries that can start a modern war is limited, but it is clear that all will be affected by this war. The problem, therefore, as Nepal sees it, is this: the real decision to disarm has to be made by countries which possess skill and arms in such quantity and quality as would start a global, war; and other countries have to work hard and with determination to create a climate and situation favourable to this decision. It is obvious that the responsibility of deciding lies squarely with the world Powers because they alone can start a global war; and to achieve this, world public opinion has to be as broad-based as possible. 104. In our view, the problem cannot be solved by ignoring the international political realities. His Majesty's Government believes that the paramount need for complete and general disarmament has to be placed constantly before world public opinion by all the countries of the world, including those which are outside the United Nations and, therefore, any step taken by any country to form broad-based public opinion in favour of disarmament will be welcome to us. 105. This leads me to the question of the proper representation of China in the United Nations. The views of my delegation on this question are well known because they have been stated year after year in this very Assembly. The United Nations Charter provides a specially built-in position for China; it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The founders of the United Nations agreed to give this kind of specially built-in position to China in view of China's size and population and its potential power. We have no doubt that they had in mind the main territory of China when they drafted the Charter; they did not have the island of Formosa in mind when they agreed upon the special position for China. Now the People's Republic of China holds in effective control the whole of Chinese mainland territory and has done so for the last fourteen years. China today has a stable and effective government, discharging the duties of the State well and effectively. In these circumstances, it is our belief that it is against the spirit of the United Nations Charter to deny proper representation to the People's Republic of China. Moreover, the present experience of the United States and the Soviet Union coming nearer to understanding as a result of the constant intercourse between them in the United Nations should lead us to believe that the presence of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations would be of considerable help and assistance, on account of the moral pressures which the United Nations is bound to exert, in solving problems and lessening tensions in areas where China is involved. It is our humble opinion, which has been often repeated in this hall, that the cause of world peace and justice will be better served by having the People's Republic of China in than by keeping it out. 106. At this point, I cannot help paying tribute to Indian statesmanship, which has shown rare judgement in making a clear distinction between the question of ensuring a legitimate place for the People's Republic of China in the United Nations on the one hand, and the difficulties, serious difficulties, that India has encountered in its relations with China on the other, and has not let its attitude toward the one colour its judgement in the other. Neither the Sino-Indian differences nor the Sino-Soviet differences have led either India or the Soviet Union to stand in the way of the proper representation of China in the world Organization; instead, they have taken considerable initiative in the matter. And it would be a real additional contribution to peace if the Sino-American differences in a similar manner were not to stand in the way of China's legitimate representation in the United Nations. 107. With the achievement of independence from Dutch rule by West Irian during the year, the process of decolonization is almost complete in Asia. It is a matter for gratification that the problem of West Irian has been solved in such a peaceful manner. Both Indonesian and Dutch statesmanship, coupled with the efforts of the United Nations and particularly those of the Secretary-General, can, in our opinion, take legitimate pride in this happy consummation. In Africa, too, more countries are on their way to independence. We are looking forward to the independence of Kenya, Zanzibar, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and to welcoming them amidst us as full-fledged Members of our Organization. But we regret that there has been little progress registered in the past year with respect to Portuguese territories in Africa, and with respect to South West Africa. We also regret that the situation in Southern Rhodesia continues to give rise to serious concern to all of us here. Nepal has always championed the cause of all dependent peoples and will continue to exert every effort within and outside the United Nations to bury colonialism in all its forms. In this connexion, I should also like to express my Government's appreciation of the recent Summit Conference of Independent African States at Addis Ababa. The Conference in itself has been an achievement of great significance because it has highlighted the basic problems of Africa and also its amazing possibilities. The meeting has discovered a new purpose and developed a new sense of urgency to solve the problem of colonialism and racialism in Africa. His Majesty's Government has welcomed the decisions of the Conference of the African Heads of State as a positive and constructive response to the challenges posed before Africa, and also welcomes the formation of the Organization of African Unity. 108. While the relaxation of tension and cold war between the Western and Socialist countries and the emergence to independence of many new countries during the last year have been welcome developments from every point of view, the tension on the Sino-Indian border has been a matter of great concern to us. His Majesty King Mahendra has often expressed his deep anxiety over the continuing tension on the Sino-Indian border, and has pleaded for the peaceful solution of the problem. The tension between two great Asian countries like India and China, which has led to a sharp intensification of military preparations, causes great concern to us as we are situated between these two neighbours. This new development of tension in a peaceful area where the policies of the Governments concerned are guided by the principle of peaceful coexistence is in contrast with the relaxation of tension elsewhere, particularly between the United States and the Soviet Union. If the untiring efforts of the Western and Soviet statesmen could lead to a considerable lessening of the deeper and more complex tension in the world, similar efforts between the Indian and Chinese statesmen should not fail to lead to a happier state of affairs between them and in that region. 109. The situation in South Viet-Nam has also been a source of grave anxiety for His Majesty's Government. Nepal, along with sixteen other nations, requested inscription of the item "The violation of human rights in South Viet-Nam" in the agenda of the eighteenth session of the General Assembly [A/5489 and Add.1-3], The title of the item is indicative enough of the essential point of our concern in the present situation in South Viet-Nam. It is, as the title says, a question of human rights, and not a question of religion. Nepal is the birthplace of the Lord Buddha. Although Nepal is a predominantly Hindu country, a unique feature of our cultural heritage is the fusion of the two great religions. There has never been a conflict in Nepal between Hinduism and Buddhism. As a matter of fact, Nepal has never known any religious or racial strife in its history. We believe in freedom of worship along with other fundamental freedoms, and our Constitution guarantees all these basic freedoms. What we regret most in Viet-Nam is the denial of freedom of religion to the majority of the people by the government of the minority religion. I should like to appeal here to the Government of South Viet-Nam to show goodwill and tolerance towards its own people so that the country, which unfortunately is already torn by infernal political strife, may not be further divided by a denial of basic human rights to the majority of its people. We whole-heartedly echo the sentiments of President Kennedy who stated in his address to this Assembly: "Our concern is the right of all men to equal protection under the law —and since human rights are indivisible, this body cannot stand aside when those rights are abused and neglected by any . . . State". [1209th meeting, para. 66.] 110. This brings us to yet another and perhaps more unfortunate example of the denial of the basic human rights of the majority of the population in the face of continued opposition of world opinion and the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council for no less than the past sixteen years. I am, of course, referring to the question of apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid is an affront to human dignity. My Government and my people have been unalterably opposed to this inhuman and fascist system that has been imposed by a minority Government, which refuses to see the writing on the wall. My delegation has the honour of serving as a member and Rapporteur of a Special Committee 5/ appointed by the General Assembly last year. The Special Committee's two interim reports [A/5418 of 9 May 1963 and A/5453 of 19 July 1963] and its report to the eighteenth session of the Assembly [A/5497] will come up for discussion later on. My delegation has had ample opportunity to express its views in the Special Committee, and these views are fully reflected in the reports. 111. In spite of the tensions which still continue in most of the perennially tense areas such as Germany, the Middle East, Cuba, and particularly Laos and Viet-Nam, and of the new tensions such as those on the Sino-Indian border which rule out any complacency, the general international political climate has registered a definite improvement. In order that this improvement in the political situation may continue uninterrupted, it is necessary that economic disparities between nations be minimized, if not eliminated. 112. To an under-developed country like Nepal, economic disparities rather than ideological differences constitute the challenge of the modern age. The problems we are facing are the problems of absorbing modern science and technology in our under-developed agricultural economy. In our opinion, therefore, whatever social system helps a country to absorb modern science and technology is likely to be stable for that country. The United States, Japan and the advanced countries of the West have absorbed modern science and technology in their economy under a capitalist democratic system; and so far as those countries are concerned, their system has met the challenge of the age and has become stable. The Soviet Union and other socialist countries have absorbed modern science and technology under a socialist system; and so far as they are concerned, their system has also achieved stability. On the other hand, the differences between the two advanced groups of capitalist and socialist countries are losing their sharp edges and the differences between the advanced and less advanced countries even within the same system, whether capitalistic of socialistic, are growing. We notice that tensions are increasing between the "haves" and the "have nots" within the same system. 113. We in Nepal, therefore, view our problems in this light. We are convinced that whatever political system we evolve must be capable of delivering economic goods, of ensuring adequate economic development and, as I have already said, of absorbing modern science and technology in our economy. We do not say that other values do not matter; but for us economic development is a challenge which we can only ignore at our own peril. 114. Our foreign policy, therefore, is directed towards highlighting not the ideological differences, however important they may be, but the economic differences which, unless minimized, are bound to become a threat to world peace. For this reason, we have already welcomed the launching of the United Nations Development Decade as a positive step in the right direction. 115. It is in the same spirit that has animated the concept of the Decade of Development that His Majesty's Government of Nepal has been implementing its current three-year plan and is already engaged in the formulation of its next five-year plan. National efforts for economic development of the country have been undertaken on an expanded scale ever since the overthrow of the feudal Rana oligarchy in 1951. But the pace has been much more accelerated and the plans drawn up more realistically since December 1960 with the advent of Panchayat democracy in Nepal under the able guidance and leadership of our sovereign, His Majesty King Mahendra. 116. Panchayat democracy is the system that Nepal evolved to suit its own genius and its traditions. We were until early 1951 under a feudal oligarchy. It was then at the end of 104 years of autocratic Rana family rule that the people of Nepal, under the leadership of our beloved late King Tribhuvan whose memory we revere, threw off the yoke of the Rana régime and liberated the country from the shackles of mediaeval feudalism. The country adopted a parliamentary system of democracy under the interim Constitution of 1951 granted by the late King Tribhuvan and also in the Constitution of 1959 granted by our King Mahendra. However, the system, foreign as it was to the genius and traditions of the people of Nepal, failed to respond to the needs of the country. Befitting our national traditions and genius, we have now established our system of Panchayat democracy safeguarded by the new Constitution promulgated in 1962. We have set up in Nepal, as his Majesty King Mahendra said, "such a system as will reflect not only in theory and principle but in actual practice and in the everyday life of the people, the feelings and sentiments underlying the universal aspiration for human rights and social justice". In pursuance of our destiny, we naturally look to our neighbours and friends for goodwill and co-operation. The Panchayat system of democracy which is suited to our national character and historical setting under which all citizens, irrespective of their political creed, participate at different levels of Panchayat, in the affairs of the Government and in the formulation of national policies, is functioning smoothly in Nepal. We therefore feel that whatever system the national way of life may embody the best is that which sprouts from the soil and is not borrowed from outside. We have sympathy with and goodwill towards all countries which follow different ways of life suited to their own environment; what we expect from our friends and neighbours is the same amount of sympathy and goodwill in matters of our own national way of life. 117. In the area of economic and social development, I should like to emphasize here that in spite of the fact that international action both under the auspices of the United Nations family and outside the family has been taken on an expanding scale, enough cannot be said to have been done to cope with the problems of poverty, hunger and ignorance that still plague two-thirds of humanity. The gulf between the rich and the poor nations paradoxically enough has grown wider rather than diminished. This does not mean that the effort thus far has been wasted or the emphasis on priorities wrongly placed, but only that greater and more determined efforts are necessary both on the international and national scale. The inadequacy of resources for international development is ironic in face of the paradox that the present annual expenditures on armaments alone, as estimated by the Secretary-General, are about $120,000 million, equal to the aggregate of national incomes of all under-developed countries of the world and about ten times their net capital formation. His Majesty's Government welcomed the study made last year by the United Nations on the Economic and Social Consequences of Disarmament and fervently looks to the day when parts of these tremendous resources will become available for purposes of development. 118. Before I conclude, I should like to reiterate that the people and the Government of Nepal look upon the United Nations, in great measure, as a guardian of the independence and territorial integrity of small nations and as a forum where small nations can make their own humble contributions to the cause of international peace and prosperity. His Majesty King Mahendra has said: "Nepal regards the United Nations as a guardian of the freedom of the small nations and would like it to grow in such a manner as would inspire the confidence of such nations". Nepal has always wanted to see a strong United Nations and will continue to strive for this. 119. In our search for strengthening the Organization and increasing its effectiveness, by making it reflect more realistically the composition of its membership, we find a need for a fair and equitable representation of Member States in the principal organs of the United Nations. We have on our agenda an item on the subject. This item has continued to be discussed in one form or another in the forums of the United Nations since 1955. But, unfortunately, the inequity in the distribution of seats and a complete disregard for the legitimate rights of representation of the large family of Asian and African States, have continued so far. My delegation, which again had the privilege of serving as a member and rapporteur of a negotiating sub-committee of the Committee on Arrangements for a Conference for the Purpose of Reviewing the Charter, feels, as was stated in my Government's communication to the Chairman of the Sub-Committee, that the need to give adequate and equitable representation to the Member States of Asia and Africa in the two main organs of the Organization, namely, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, has been overdue. My Government also feels that sufficient thought should be given to the question of proper redistribution of the total number of seats in each Council, as experience has shown that expansion in the membership of some of the functional commissions and the various subordinate bodies of the Economic and Social Council has not necessarily led to an adequate and equitable representation of the Asian and African States in those bodies. My delegation sincerely hopes that the legitimate demands of the Asian and the African States which have shown immense patience in this matter and waited long enough, would receive the sympathetic support of all the Member States during the eighteenth session. 120. Closely related to the issue of strengthening the Organization is the problem of the financial solvency of the United Nations. My delegation cannot fail to note that the Organization is faced with the prospect of financial bankruptcy owing to the refusal of some Member States to share the cost of United Nations peacekeeping operations. Although we appreciate the reasons that have been advanced by those States for not paying their share of the cost, my Government feels that all the States Members of the United Nations are pledged to the principle of collective responsibility for peace-keeping operations by virtue of their membership in the Organization and their allegiance to the Charter, We therefore renew our appeal to those States to see their way, particularly in view of the present improved international climate, to save the Organization from financial bankruptcy. 121. To sum up, my delegation believes that among the tasks facing the present session of the Assembly the following four are the most important: (1) Continued, determined efforts to extend the scope of the nuclear test ban treaty until it covers the entire field of armaments, both conventional and nuclear. We are aware that this is an extremely complicated question but certainly not beyond the capabilities of the statesmen of this world to solve. (2) The struggle against colonialism and apartheid has to continue, although it is a matter of great satisfaction that the forces of colonialism and apartheid are being increasingly isolated. (3) The Assembly must continue to stress the position and economic aspects of world peace. "The present division of the world into rich and poor countries is", as U Thant has said, "much more real and much more serious, and ultimately much more explosive, than the division of the world on ideological grounds" [A/5201/ Add.1, sect. VI]. (4) The United Nations must be continuously strengthened as an instrument for international peace and prosperity by the impartial application of the principle of universality of membership in the Organization and an equitable representation of every Member State in all its principal organs.