1. Mr. President, as I speak from this rostrum for the first time, to express my own and my Government's warm congratulations to you on your election to the Presidency, a post in which your cool-headedness, wisdom and diplomacy, as well as your long experience in international problems, will be invaluable to our Organization in these difficult times.
2. I had the privilege of meeting you in 1960, when my country was admitted to the United Nations, Your eloquence, so precise and at the same time vigorous, and your very complete knowledge of United Nations affairs were for me, a newcomer, an object of admiration and inspiration.
3. You are the next in line in a series of distinguished Presidents. I shall mention today only your immediate predecessor, Mr. Fanfani, who evinced outstanding qualities and whose wisdom greatly contributed to the smooth functioning of a particularly difficult session.
4. To the Secretary-General, U Thant, I bring on behalf of our Head of State, President Philibert Tsiranana, and on behalf of the Government and people of Madagascar, the tribute of our admiration and gratitude for the great work he has accomplished since he has held the office to which the General Assembly, in tragic circumstances, unanimously called him. He has devoted himself body and soul to his lofty mission of keeping the peace, seeing that the Charter is implemented and seeking a solution for the agonizing problems which have developed in various parts of the world during the last four years, threatening mankind with a conflagration which, because of the existence of terrible means of mass destruction, could mean the end of our civilization and perhaps destroy all chance of survival on our planet.
5. A few day ago my Head of State publicly declared that the whole people of Madagascar hoped that the Secretary-General would agree to continue to serve in his difficult post and that, for their part, all the Powers, great and small, would do everything in their power to facilitate his task. We all understand that the Secretary-General is at times discouraged; but, knowing his high sense of duty, perhaps we can hope that the number and gravity of the problems to be solved will, on the contrary, encourage him to remain at his post, for he will realize from the unanimous emotion generated by the announcement of his departure that the world sees in him the man in whom it can place its hopes.
6. The first of these problems is the search for peace. No one has forgotten the moving appeal for peace made in this very hall a year ago by His Holiness Pope Paul VI [1347th meeting]. His Holiness appealed to the conscience of the world to banish forever war, with its attendant violence, wretchedness and death. Alas, a year has gone by since that historic moment and, despite that resounding appeal, the guns are still firing and blood is still flowing. When will the peoples understand that force settles nothing and that every leader has the duty to seek, in good faith, without unacceptable conditions, a way to save his people from the ruin, suffering and destruction which will weigh down on generations to come? This appeal for a sincere search for peace, in other words, for negotiation, constitutes, in my candid opinion, the only way to end the present troubles, by the very fact that the United Nations Charter prohibits all Member States from resorting to war.
7. Wherever peace is threatened, wherever the aftermath of past disputes keeps trouble spots in existence, only loyal application of the principles of the Charter can bring backorder and calm. Peoples artificially divided — in Korea, Germany, Viet-Nam — aspire to reunification. They should be free, without constraint or external interference, to choose their own destiny. To that end, since war is to be excluded, is not negotiation the only possible way out? The same applies in other parts of the world; in Africa, where dangerous border conflicts arise here and there between neighbouring sister-States; in the Middle East, where serious problems, the consequence of the last two wars, obviously cannot be settled except by negotiation; in Asia and, lastly, in the Far East.
8. What admirable examples of political realism India and Pakistan gave the world at their historic meeting in Tashkent in January 1966, and Indonesia, when it decided to put an end to its confrontation with Malaysia, Are not negotiation and self-determination the only possible solutions also for the tragic problems which are today arising in Africa? Let us pause for a moment to consider those problems, which are now foremost among the concerns not only of the African States, but also of all the very many States represented in this Assembly which are determined to see that throughout the great continent of Africa the principles of liberty contained in the Charter are not empty words.
9. Portugal stubbornly refuses to recognize the right of the African populations it administers to self-determination. Portugal takes no notice whatsoever of the numerous resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. Portugal should understand that we cannot stand by indefinitely, helpless and disarmed, as witnesses to this deliberate refusal to permit millions of Africans to escape from the domination of a colonial Power.
10. In South Africa, a pitiless policy of racial discrimination depriving African peoples of their most elementary rights, although condemned by the universal conscience and denounced by numerous resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, is nevertheless being pursued and is even hardening.
11. In South West Africa, that same Government is introducing segregation laws which have already been rejected by the universal conscience and is claiming that the Mandate which it holds from the League of Nations puts it beyond all United Nations control, despite the decisions handed down in 1950 and 1962 by the International Court of Justice, whose scandalous recent Judgment has not altered the substance of the operative part of those decisions: namely, that the United Nations is the successor of the League of Nations. The only way out in this matter is to revoke the Mandate.
12. Portugal and South Africa should look around them and not stubbornly pursue a policy so contrary to the evolution of peoples and to the commitments they undertook when they signed the Charter and accepted its provisions, without reservation, including those contained in Chapter XI. Further, those countries should understand that they are preparing a terrible awakening for their children and grandchildren, for they must not have the illusion they can indefinitely keep under their domination tens of millions of Africans who aspire to freedom and who, with the moral support of the rest of the world and the determined solidarity of their African brothers, will succeed, one of these days, in breaking their chains. When that happens, would they be able to count on the understanding, the co-operation and, I would even say, thinking of Madagascar, the friendship which exists in numerous African countries between the former colonial masters and those whom they had colonized, but who have now achieved independence?
I say to them sincerely that today it is still not too late to prepare for that future; but perhaps tomorrow it will be too late.
13. Recently a threat to peace has been created in Southern Rhodesia through the blindness of a minority anxious at all costs to maintain its supremacy over an African population twenty times more numerous.
The great African family has unequivocally spoken out' through the voice of the Organization of African Unity' against the unilateral declaration of independence and the United Nations has solemnly manifested its categorical disagreement with that action. The authority of the international Organization must not be indefinitely flopped and the rebel regime of Ian Smith must agree to hand over sovereignty to the people of Southern Rhodesia. Otherwise, it must be constrained to do so by all the means provided by the Charter and all Member States must firmly and resolutely use those means.
14. The Development Decade, in which so many hopes had been placed, has already proved a partial failure. The total amount of aid granted by the industrialized countries is decreasing, whereas their national income is steadily increasing. We are far from the goal we enthusiastically set ourselves four years ago; namely, of obtaining a contribution to international assistance from the industrialized countries equal to 1 per cent of their gross national income [resolution 1711 (XVI)]. It is, of course, only fair to say that some industrialized countries have greatly increased their total aid; but what is at issue here is an effort of international co-operation, and the burden should not be left to three or four countries alone.
15. One of the solutions to the problem of underdevelopment would be the effective organization of primary commodity markets. Many speakers have stressed that the origin, the real cause of the imbalance, lies in the constant deterioration of the terms of trade and the inadequate prices for raw materials. Everyone seems to agree on this diagnosis. Why then, my delegation wonders, should we not consider minimum prices for the principal products and set up an international system of compensation which would operate automatically if prices fell and would give the producing country the difference? Is it not extraordinary to find that, when the industrialized countries establish their cost prices, the cost of raw materials seems to be a variable and reducible element? If, for example wages have to rise, we often find that, in order not to raise the selling price and thereby prejudice turnover and expansion, it is the cost price of raw materials that is reduced.
16. Previous speakers have all expressed the deep anxiety of their peoples at the accumulation and dissemination of weapons of mass destruction, while the volume of conventional armaments is also increasing. Only general, controlled disarmament would produce a realistic solution. It is greatly to be desired that outer space will in no case be used for murderous ends.
17. The sovereignty of all States must be respected. International differences must be settled by negotiation. Every form of internal subversion or interference in the affairs of other States must be absolutely prohibited among Member States. These principles are the ones that guide the foreign policy of my Government, A special item [94] was included in the agenda of the twentieth session of the General
Assembly at my Government's request and consideration of that item has been referred to the Sixth Committee. The resolution [2103B (XX)] adopted on the recommendation of that Committee takes our suggestions substantially into account and my Government greatly hopes that these principles, already implicit in the Charter, will be formally incorporated therein.
18. My delegation hopes that all Member States will observe these great principles and that those who apply for membership will undertake to comply with them. It is with this hope in mind that my delegation, for its part, will not vote for the admission of any State, even Continental China, if, by its statements and, still more, by its actions, it follows a non-peaceful policy contrary to the spirit of the Charter. The delegation of the Republic of Madagascar will not dwell at greater length on the great questions which we have on the agenda.
19. My delegation hopes that, as in Madagascar, democratic principles will be applied everywhere and individual freedom fully respected. In Madagascar eighteen tribes coexist in peace, without any racial discrimination. There is not a single political prisoner. We have no territorial ambitions outside our own frontiers and we threaten no one. The President of my country recently said that, opposed to any form of armed intervention, he intends to observe on every occasion Ghandi's doctrine of non-violence.
20. My country will continue to be a loyal and active partner in the Organization of African Unity, because it is convinced that union is possible and desirable in Africa, on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and integrity of each State. It considers that the Common Afro-Malagasy Organization is an association of countries united by certain special bonds, certain forms of culture and certain economic interests. It is freely open to all and represents that "union in diversity" which the representative of Cameroon so eloquently defined from this rostrum [1412th meeting]. That organization has set out on the road of economic co-operation, setting up, among other things, a kind of common market for sugar. With that outlook it cannot but strengthen the Organization of African Unity.
21. The union of Africa is, as I have already stressed, more necessary than ever and the special interests of some States should never overshadow it. The fight against under-development must be waged shoulder to shoulder, in brotherhood, and it is together that we must pursue our efforts to see that all the African countries can sit here in this hall and make their voices heard in the concert of nations.
22. If the political horizon is dark and disquieting, there have nevertheless been some causes for satisfaction since the last session of the General Assembly. Among these I shall mention the admission of Guyana, to which my delegation expresses its warmest greetings and wishes for success.
23. Indonesia has resumed its place among us. My people, among whom certain tribes have ethnic bonds with the Indonesian people, are sincerely glad of that.
24. Two new African States, Botswana and Lesotho, have come to swell our ranks this very morning. To them I address the warm congratulations of my country and my delegation and our hopes for their full success. I am also very glad that the United Kingdom has brought two more African States to independence in good order and in peace. We hope it may. in the near future, crown its work by settling the grievous problem of Rhodesia.
25. France, faithful to its traditions, has announced that French Somaliland will be called upon to choose its own destiny by referendum. My country is very happy that this should be so and hopes that, whatever its choice, Djibouti will enjoy peace and will pursue, in friendship with all the African countries and also with France, its material and moral progress.
26. The process of liberation of peoples is under way. Our Organization is moving closer and closer towards that universality which is its highest goal. The duty of us all is to work with courage, farsightedness and loyalty to make the Organization an effective instrument for the safeguarding of peace and the prevention of war and the evils attendant thereon, just as its founders conceived the noble and ambitious dream of this Organization twenty-one years ago in San Francisco. It depends on all of us to bring that dream to pass.