46. The Pakistan delegation views with profound regret and concern the absence of the French delegation from the General Assembly. We express hope for its return. Without the full participation of France in all the organs of the United Nations, this Organization will, we feel, be greatly handicapped in fulfilling its purposes. France, we sincerely believe, has a great contribution to make in this forum to the peace, security and progress of mankind.
47. This year, we are meeting in a more harmonious political climate than that which prevailed at many of our previous sessions. It is indeed encouraging that the four-Power Conference at Geneva should have brought about a definite measure of relaxation in international tension. We hope and pray that this new spirit of conciliation will extend to all nations and to all questions.
48. The United Nations can contribute significantly to this spirit of Geneva. Through our actions, this spirit may be endowed with substance and become an enduring reality. Let us be determined that it should permeate our deliberations on every issue, however much our points of view may differ. The application of this spirit can make this world forum in fact, as it is in name and purpose, an effective instrument for the achievement of peace and amity among the nations of the world.
49. Within the next few weeks, the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union will meet at Geneva to consider outstanding questions which have disturbed international relations during the last decade. Disarmament, the reunification of Germany, the security of Europe, the threat of international political subversion and other grave issues still await solution. The outcome of these efforts will be of the greatest importance to all of us, for we have a vital interest in the removal of causes which might spark a third world war, and in the attainment of a just and enduring peace.
50. A great deal has already been said about the stark and simple choice which confronts the United Nations in the nuclear age. If the present race in armaments, in the manufacture and stockpiling of atomic and thermonuclear weapons, continues unchecked, we may well pass the point of no return, to a war of annihilation in which will perish man and all his works. There will be no victor and no vanquished, no consummation of the ends of national greatness, gain or power.
51. The dawn of the nuclear age demands a radical reorientation of our outlook and a transvaluation of national and international values if good is to triumph over evil and life over death. The disarmament question must, therefore, be given the foremost priority by the Powers represented on the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission.
52. The Pakistan delegation was profoundly impressed by President Eisenhower’s offer to exchange with the Soviet Union information on the military establishments of the two countries and facilities for unrestricted aerial reconnaissance over their respective territories. In our view, this is an unmistakable demonstration of the fact that the United States harbours no aggressive intentions against the Soviet Union. We express the hope that the current negotiations will lead to the acceptance of President Eisenhower’s offer as the first great step forward in the progressive achievement of disarmament under a system of effective international inspection and control.
53. My delegation welcomes the initiative of the Prime Minister of France in proposing that the savings resulting from a reduction in armaments should be earmarked for the purpose of assisting the underdeveloped countries in strengthening their economies. Nearly two-thirds of the human race are today living on the margin of subsistence and are a prey to unavoidable disease and ignorance. The diversion of resources from the production of weapons for man’s destruction to his economic betterment would, in a great measure, enable this major segment of humanity to achieve that social progress and those better standards of life in larger freedom which are among the goals of our Charter. Improving the lot of these people will benefit all mankind. It will prove the wisest collective investment ever made. A city that is two-thirds slum is not a healthy city economically, culturally, socially or politically, and this is equally true of the world community.
54. The Chairman of the Soviet Union delegation, Mr. Molotov, affirmed, in the' course of his address to this Assembly on 23 September [520th meeting], that regional security arrangements, like the South-East Asia Collective Security Treaty, constituted a direct danger to the security of the peoples of Asia and the Far East and to their national independence.
55. Such fears are totally baseless. There is certainly nothing in the Manila Treaty to justify any such apprehensions. A reference to the preamble to the Treaty and the Pacific Charter should dispel any lingering doubts. I quote from the preamble: “The parties to this Treaty, ... “Reaffirming that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, they uphold the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and declaring that they will earnestly strive by every peaceful means to promote self-government and secure the independence of all countries whose peoples desire it and are able to undertake its responsibilities, desiring to strengthen the fabric of peace and freedom and to uphold the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, and to promote the economic well-being and development of all peoples in the treaty area...”. The Pacific Charter reiterates these provisions of the preamble to the Treaty and further proclaims that, “to be worthy and effective”, common action to maintain peace and security in South-East Asia and the South- West Pacific “must be inspired by the highest principles of justice and liberty”.
56. The people of Pakistan have known centuries of colonial rule. It is unthinkable that they would support any kind of arrangement which, directly or indirectly, might be exploited for the purpose of enslaving other peoples. If Pakistan had imagined for a moment that the Manila Treaty could be perverted to serve such ends, it would never have signed the Treaty, nor would it have become a party had not the pledge to uphold the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples been solemnly proclaimed in the Pacific Charter and written into the preamble to the Treaty. Our stand on such questions in the United Nations and elsewhere is a matter of record and open to the scrutiny of the world.
57. The charge that pacts for regional defence constitute a direct danger to the security of other States is one with which the world has become familiar. Its repetition does not enhance its validity. It may not be altogether irrelevant to point out in this connexion that there has been in existence, since 1950, a treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. The Soviet Union has also concluded agreements in the nature of military alliances with the Communist countries of Eastern Europe, and these nations are also linked to one another by a series of bilateral agreements; the whole constituting a regional military combine of great potency.
58. The Manila Treaty threatens no nation and no people. It is not a treaty of aggression, but purely one of self-defence. It is based on the inherent right of every State to individual and collective self-defence under the rules of general international law recognized in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.
59. At the Bandung Conference, I met with the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Chou En-lai. As a result of our talks, I believe that he was convinced that Pakistan had joined the Manila Treaty not with any aggressive intention against the People’s Republic of China, but to safeguard the security of South-East Asia. The communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Conference, by unanimous agreement of all the twenty-nine participating States, including the People’s Republic of China, expressly recognizes the right of each nation to defend itself, singly or collectively.
60. The two parts of Pakistan are divided by over 1,000 miles of foreign territory. Pakistan has common frontiers with Iran, Afghanistan and the People’s Republic of China, and also with India and Burma. We have thus a vital interest in the security of both the Middle East and South-East Asia. Hence our participation in the Manila Treaty and the Bandung resolutions.
61. In Bandung, last April, twenty-nine Asian and African nations met in conference to promote world peace and co-operation and also to consider certain political, economic and social problems of common interest. The sponsors of the conference were the Colombo Powers, namely, Burma, Ceylon, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. Prior to the conference, there was a certain degree of anxiety in some parts of the world as to the possible outcome of a meeting of so many nations which only a few years before had been subject to colonial domination. It was apprehended that the conference might set itself apart from the United Nations and so detract from the prestige and moral authority of that Organization. What was the actual result? Bandung belied those fears while exceeding the hopes of its sponsors. By demonstrating unanimous allegiance to the purposes and principles of the Charter, and endorsing recommendations of its various organs, Bandung enhanced the prestige and moral authority of the United Nations.
62. Bandung is an event in history, both in itself and for that which it achieved. Never before had so many countries of Asia and Africa come together in such a conclave. As many as thirteen of them had achieved their independence since the Second World War, and no fewer than fourteen were members of the great community of Islam. In area they comprised one-fourth of the land surface of the globe, and in population over half of mankind.
63. Apart from the unanimous recommendations which emerged from the week-long deliberations of the twenty-nine nations, the Bandung Conference contributed in no mean measure to the easing of tension in the Far East and to the promotion of greater understanding and goodwill among the nations of two continents.
64. One of the problems which is of special and continuing concern to the peoples of Asia and Africa is the struggle of dependent peoples for freedom. The Bandung Conference agreed in de faring that colonialism, in all its manifestations, was an evil which should be speedily and peacefully brought to an end. The Bandung Conference called for a change in the status quo in the relations between the subject peoples and their rulers.
65. In a recent address to the American Bar Association, President Eisenhower touched upon a similar theme, namely, the need for a change in the status quo in regard to captive peoples. There could be no true peace, he affirmed, if it involved the acceptance of such injustices. There must be a change, for change was a law of life, and unless there was peaceful change there was bound to be violent change. Is not this law applicable in all its fullness to the relations between the dependent peoples and those who exercise dominion over them?
66. At this stage, my delegation considers it appropriate to commend for the consideration of the General Assembly two specific recommendations of the Bandung Conference. The first relates to the admission of new Members to the United Nations, and the second to the need for more adequate representation of Asian and African nations in the non-permanent seats of the Security Council, in conformity with the principle of equitable geographical representation.
67. For many years, a number of nations which fully satisfy the tests for membership set forth in the Charter have been seeking admission to this Organization, but unfortunately in vain. The Bandung Conference called upon the Security Council to support the application for admission of all those States which qualified for membership under the terms of the Charter, and specifically the following Asian and African countries which so qualified: Cambodia, Ceylon, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Nepal and a unified Viet-Nam. My delegation, therefore, trusts that the Security Council will speedily recommend their admission, except in the case of Viet-Nam, which still awaits unification.
68. With reference to the question of the composition of the Security Council, the final communiqué of the Bandung Conference provides as follows: "The Conference considered that the representation of the countries of the Asian-African region on the Security Council, in relation to the principle of equitable geographical distribution, was inadequate. It expressed the view that, as regards the distribution of the non-permanent seats, the Asian and African countries which, under the arrangement arrived at in London in 1946, were precluded from being elected, should be enabled to serve on the Security Council, so that they might make a more effective contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security.”
69. We are all aware that, under the understanding reached in London in 1946, the countries of South- East Asia and the Far East, comprising a vast land mass and inhabited by over 700 million people, are not adequately represented on the Security Council, for countries of this region which are members of the United Nations can hardly hope to be elected to this principal organ. Applications for admission from a number of other countries of the region are now pending. When admitted, these countries also will be precluded from serving on the Council. This situation is inequitable and needs early rec nation through amendment of the relevant provisions of the Charter.
70. At this session, we are required to take a decision whether a general conference of the Member States of the United Nations should be convened for the purpose of reviewing the Charter. The Pakistan delegation does not believe that the Charter is a perfect instrument. There is, for example, the right of veto, which militates against the concept of the sovereign equality of States, one of the fundamental principles of the United Nations. But what is even more to be deplored is the manner in which this prerogative has been exercised in the history of the Organization. On the other hand, it would be unrealistic to believe that the ills which beset the Organization can be cured by merely altering its constitution. The causes of the malaise lie much deeper. Also, my delegation cannot but give expression to its sense of disappointment at the failure of the United Nations to implement its own resolutions relating to grave problems affecting international peace and security.
71. Until the basic antagonism between East and West is removed, we cannot expect the United Nations to, become that potent instrument for the maintainence of international peace and security which the authors of the Charter intended it to be. Alterations in the fundamental provisions of the Charter must therefore await a more favourable international climate. Nevertheless, my delegation believes that amendments to the Charter designed to eliminate the power of veto in connexion with the admission of new Members, and to enlarge the non-permanent membership of the Security Council so as to give more adequate representation to certain regions in Asia and Africa, should be given urgent consideration. We trust that attempts in this direction will not be frustrated by a resort to the veto.
72. We would not, however, favour any increase in the number of permanent seats, for here it is not a question of a principle of the United Nations which is involved, namely, equitable geographical distribution of seats, but a question of doubtful fact, the recognition of great Power status. Enlargement of the number of permanent seats would result not only in a further derogation from the concept of sovereign equality, but would also add to the number of states enjoying the veto power in the Security Council.
73. Considering all the circumstances, my delegation finds itself in agreement with the proposal of the Secretary-General that the Assembly should decide at the present session in favour of a review conference, leaving open for the time being the question of when it should be convened [A/2911, p. xi].
74. Among the activities of the United Nations are its technical assistance programmes. These have been most helpful to the under-developed countries in providing the technological skills needed for economic development and the improvement of living conditions in these areas.
75. In the field of the peaceful uses of atomic energy, the Conference of the world’s leading scientists held in Geneva last August is a historic landmark. The breaking down of the barriers of secrecy which it accomplished and the consequent free interchange of ideas and information which took place was one of the most valuable features of the Conference. The foundation for accelerated scientific progress in the sphere of atomic energy has been well and truly laid. It is evident beyond a doubt I that a new industrial revolution, far greater in scope than the one which transformed society in the nineteenth century, is in the making, holding forth the promise of a more abundant life for thousands of millions of people all over the world.
76. The Conference also contributed to reducing international tension, and held out the hope that a shift in emphasis from war-like to peaceful utilization of atomic power might in itself become an important factor in lessening the danger of nuclear war.
77. The Pakistan delegation is heartened that negotiations are in progress for the creation of an International Atomic Energy Agency. In order to ensure that the beneficent activities of the agency encompass all the principal areas of the world, an adequate voice in the making of its policies and programmes must be given to the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
78. The first decade of the United Nations has had its measure of achievements and of failures. The future holds both hope and fear. Let us all dedicate ourselves to the great task of strengthening this Organization, consecrated as it is to the eternal values and the highest aims of mankind.