146. My country wishes to associate its voice with those of the eminent speakers who have preceded me at this rostrum in offering to you, Mr. President, its warmest congratulations on your unanimous election to the office of President of the twenty-first session of the General Assembly. There can be no doubt that under your judicious guidance our work will be fruitful and full of promise. Your vigorous exertions, both in the Afro-Asian group and in the Group of Seventy-seven, combined with the prestige you enjoy there, are an assurance to us that the outcome of our session will, despite the few dark clouds visible on the horizon, be a happy one.
147. The principles governing Upper Volta's foreign policy and my country's general views on the world at large are extremely simple. They derive from the very condition in which my country finds itself. Upper Volta, as a young State emerging from a hard colonial past, still shares with many others the sad fate of being under-developed. Knowing this to be so, my country, which wishes to be realistic in keeping with its age-old tradition of wisdom, has deliberately abandoned the delusion of pursuing a policy of prestige since the political events which marked its history at the beginning of this year. Since then, it has defined its foreign policy and established it on the basis of three fundamental principles closely attuned to its national requirements.
148. The first of these principles is the national interest, which to us means giving priority to the pursuit of the maximum well-being of the greatest possible number of our people.
149. The second principle is independence and its two corollaries: mutual respect for the absolute equality of States and non-interference in their internal affairs.
150. The third is neutrality, a policy which makes manifest our firm determination to reject foreign influences and avoid giving our allegiance to any existing political bloc or to any major Power of the day.
151. Since the foreign policy of Upper Volta scrupulously adheres to these principles, both in its relations with other States and within international organizations, it expects other States to do likewise where Upper Volta is concerned.
152. Upper Volta, a country which opens widely on to the interior; it is a busy cross-roads and naturally has an international outlook. Where international co-operation is concerned it is therefore ready to extend its hand to all nations wishing to co-operate with it under conditions of respect for equality and for its fundamental principles. In this connexion I should like to recall the statement of general policy made by our President, Lieutenant- Colonel Sangouls Lamizana, on the occasion of the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the independence of the Republic:
"In the certainty of reflecting the deep-seated aspirations of our people, I wish, on this anniversary, to recall the main lines of our foreign policy. In our relations with the outside world, our main concern is to live in peace and harmony, first with our neighbours and then with all other peoples in the world who cherish justice and peace."
153. Because we are anxious to be realistic and practical, we have always taken the view that progress in international relations should be by successive stages if institutions are to be at all viable. That is why we regard regional and sub-regional organizations as the best means of achieving African unity and of ensuring our integration with the rest of the world. It was for this reason that, on the morrow of the revolutionary events of January 1966, we confirmed our membership of the various subregional and regional organizations. Through these institutions we shall work our way gradually up to the African and then to the world level with the help of the world-wide Organization which has now called us to these noble surroundings.
154. My delegation would like to glance at some of the problems which confront the Organization today and to define its attitude towards them. It has become a truism to say that the fundamental problem of our time is the problem of peace and of the preservation of peace. One of the principal duties of our Organization under the Charter is to maintain international peace and security.
155. Like all countries in the Third World, Upper Volta has resolutely embarked on a determined search for peace, which is a prerequisite to solving the problem of economic development of those countries and of their survival.
156. The revolutionary progress achieved in recent years in connexion with armaments and the perfecting of weapons of mass destruction lend even greater urgency to this task of the Organization and heighten the anxiety of all countries in the world who cherish the noble ideals of peace and justice. Furthermore, the unhappy experience of the last two wars has shown that the day of small local wars is over. Given the present intricate pattern of international relations, any armed conflict, however minor, may at any moment burst forth into a general conflagration.
157. It is for this reason that my country is following with unremitting concern the war in Viet-Nam, which daily becomes more violent and more cruel. We think, and we shall continue to think that no solution can ever be found to the Viet-Nam problem by military means. In our humble opinion, the only way of finding a lasting settlement is for all the parties concerned in this grevious affair to meet around a conference table. We therefore address a solemn appeal to all those parties who directly or indirectly have some responsibility in relation to this war to do their utmost to create a climate conducive to an equitable and negotiated settlement of the question that would reflect the wishes and legitimate aspirations of the Viet-Namese people.
158. In other parts of the world there are explosive situations which could quickly degenerate into open and generalized conflict. This is particularly true of the acutely sensitive Middle East area, where compliance with the fundamental principles of the Charter — respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States and renunciation of the use of force to settle border disputes — can alone ensure that States will live together in peace. It is this conviction which leads my delegation to recommend discussion as a means of reaching a compromise solution acceptable to both sides in this distressing and never-ending conflict between the State of Israel and the Arab States.
159. Much nearer to my country, an unprecedented tragedy is taking place in the African continent, Thousands of nationalists fighting for freedom are daily falling victim to the bullets of the' Portuguese colonialists or of the racist settlers in Rhodesia and South Africa. Countless others languish in gaol because they had the courage to denounce the shameful and humiliating Portuguese colonial system or the intolerable racist policy of the white settlers in Rhodesia and South Africa.
160. Within the Organization of African Unity, my country is giving and always will give its moral and material support to the combatants in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau), the Cape Verde Islands, Southern Rhodesia and South West Africa. It will continue to do so until the whole of Africa still under foreign domination recovers its independence. That is the price of the continent's stability. There can be no doubt in anyone's mind that Africa today lives under the permanent threat of an outburst of violence owing to the absolute necessity of removing for ever the last bastions of colonialism by wars of national liberation, and as a result of the revolt by the African peoples are humiliated and tormented by the inhuman practices of the policy of apartheid.
161. The picture is even darker when one realizes that the racist Government of Southern Rhodesia was only able to make its unilateral declaration of independence because it counted on an indulgent attitude on the part of the former colonial Power and the support of its ally and neighbour South Africa, which has just given itself a new head of government who has few scruples and who is capable of the most abominable excesses of violence, intolerance and cruelty.
162. As part of the general campaign for peace, our Organization must also seek a just settlement of all the problems of the divided countries— Germany, China, Korea and Viet-Nam. We must examine these problems calmly and without paying attention to ideological considerations. The peoples of these countries have been arbitrarily subjected to partition, and it would be dangerous to settle their ultimate fate in disregard of their legitimate aspirations.
163. The people of China and the German, Korean and Viet-Namese peoples each wish to become once again a single and undivided nation. It is because of this fact and in order to meet the real, though longterm, wishes of the peoples concerned, that my country believes that the Chinese nation and the German, Korean and Viet-Namese States should each have only one seat in our Organization.
164. In our view, an effort must be made to eliminate the sources of international tension which these divided countries represent in the world of today. All that is needed to achieve this is to do these peoples justice by enabling them to decide their future freely in accordance with the principles of self-determination and their human rights.
165. My delegation also considers that the maintenance of peace should include a serious effort to extend and multiply zones of peace. That is why my country resolutely supports the efforts being made by the African States to ensure that Africa remains a denuclearized and neutral area. The peoples of Asia and Africa have had the misfortune to endure two world wars. They were dragged unwillingly into a conflict which did not concern them; they fought in the service of others and for an alien cause. They are anxious to avoid a repetition of this painful experience, and they realize that another war would put an end to their prospects of development for ever. Accordingly, they steadfastly hope that their appeal will be heard.
166. My delegation appeals to the nuclear powers to devote serious attention to the problem of putting an end to all nuclear tests and urges them to introduce as soon as possible measures that would make it possible to bring about complete disarmament subject to control. The arms and weapons of annihilation which now exist would then have to be destroyed before they destroy their creators.
167. To enable the United Nations to carry out its task as an instrument for peace effectively, we consider that it should be given the physical means required for peace-keeping operations. The question is one of particular importance now that a financial crisis is sapping the Organization's strength and threatening its existence. This is a matter where hope is but slender and future prospects are bleak, since the efforts made by Member States under the system of voluntary contributions have not yet produced a sufficient sum to meet the deficit of previous years, which remains substantial.
168. I should now like to address myself briefly to certain economic problems confronting our Organization. The constant and alarming deterioration in the terms of trade to the disadvantage of the developing countries, which makes the continuing gap between the Third World and the industrialized countries still wider, leads us to think that the solution of fundamental economic and social problems will be the ultimate factor in maintaining world peace. United Nations official statistics furnish a striking illustration of this disparity. Nineteen of the richest countries, representing barely 16 per cent of the world's population, hold over 70 per cent of the world's wealth, while vast numbers of people continue to live in poverty and almost total destitution. Furthermore, owing to the decline in the flow of international aid which we have witnessed with dismay in recent years as helpless onlookers, the situation will get worse if a remedy is not speedily found. That is why we share the concern of the United Nations to raise the over-all standard of living of the poorer peoples.
169. At this juncture we should like to pay a tribute to the efforts of the Secretary-General, U Thant, in connexion with United Nations action for development. The Committee for Development Planning instituted by the Economic and Social Council [see resolution 1079 (XXXIX)] and set up by the Secretary-General, has made it possible to survey effective ways and means of guiding and organizing development activities, whilst the Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology to Development has shown how mankind can devote the resources of its creative genius to the needs and demands of development.
170. Whatever disappointment or disillusion they may arouse in us today, the United Nations Development Decade and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development still provide a ray of hope for the future. Moreover, the recent creation of the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development [see resolution 2089 (XX)], which is responsible for studying the important problems of industrialization in developing countries, has given rise to great hopes, in the absence of miracles. We therefore make an urgent appeal to all the industrialized States to co-operate actively in UNOID in the search for practical and genuinely constructive ways of narrowing the gap which separates countries in different stages of development. By doing so they will also contribute to world peace and stability,
171. In conclusion, I should like to say how glad my delegation is to see Guyana finally take its place in the General Assembly. An independent Guyana conjures up the happy picture of a ripe fruit falling of its own accord from the old colonial tree. Let us hope that all such fruits will quickly ripen and fall as soon as possible, to the great joy of those peoples still under foreign domination.