75. On behalf of my delegation and myself, I extend to you, Mr. President, our cordial congratulations on your election to this high and highly responsible office of President of the General Assembly during its thirteenth regular session. We know that you will discharge the duties of your office with your well-known qualities of competence, efficiency and impartiality. But it is a further source of satisfaction to us to see in you a representative of our Asian culture, who will bring to the accomplishment of his task a spirit of humanity and a sense of spiritual values which are essentially and urgently required for the solution of the grave problems now confronting us.
76. I regret that I could not attend the General Assembly during its third emergency special session personally, but I wish to associate myself with the general gratification expressed at the fact that the Arab States themselves drew up resolution 1237 (ES-III), which was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly.
77. I am happy, too, to see cited in the preamble of that resolution the Charter aim that States should "practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours". I never tire of citing this provision of the Charter, for it appears to me to express in a positive and correct form what is purported to be conveyed by the term "peaceful coexistence". The practice of tolerance is a prerequisite of peaceful coexistence, for live and let live must go together, and the practice of tolerance is to let live. It is only when you let live that you can live together in peace with one another as good neighbours. Thus, aggression, direct or indirect, is to be condemned, precisely because it is a violation of the practice of tolerance.
78. The practice of tolerance, as representatives are aware, was given its due importance in the Declaration on the Promotion of World Peace and Co-operation, adopted by the Asian-African Conference at Bandung in 1955 in its final communique. The declaration says in part: "Free from mistrust-and fear, and with confidence and good-will towards one another, nations should practise tolerance and live together ’in peace with one another as good neighbours and develop friendly co-operation on the basis of the following principles: "1. Respect for fundamental human rights and for the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations. "2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations. "3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small. "4, Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of other countries. "5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself, singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations. "6. (a) Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defence to serve the particular interests of any of the big Powers. "(b) Abstention by any country from exerting pressure on other countries. "7. Refraining from acts or threats o! aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country. "8. Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties' own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations. "9. Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation. "10. Respect for justice and international obligations." It will thus be seen that the ten principles of friendly co-operation of the Bandung Conference are more comprehensive than the five principles of peaceful coexistence of the Moscow declaration of 24 May 1958 and, in the opinion of my delegation, represent more closely the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
79. The first principle of friendly co-operation is respect for fundamental human rights and for the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations. As the General Assembly's special representative on the Hungarian problem, I made a humanitarian appeal to the Foreign Minister of Hungary and the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, but in vain, as I reported to the General Assembly on 9 December 1957. in that report, I expressed my regret that I had been unable to find an opportunity for negotiations. I could not believe, however, that the Hungarian and Soviet Governments would remain insensible to the voice of world opinion and the conscience of mankind. I therefore hoped that, as the international tension relaxed, I would be given an opportunity to assist in establishing full international co-operation in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hungary. .
80. Unfortunately, events have afforded me no such opportunity, but, worse still, on 16 June 1958, it was reported that Imre Nagy, Pá1 Maléter and two of their associates had been executed. The news came as a great shock to me, as I said in the statement which I Issued at the time, as follows: "I am terribly shocked to learn of the execution of Premier Imre Nagy, General Maléter and others. As Special Representative of the United Nations General Assembly, I did my best to impress upon the Hungarian delegation the Insistent demand of world public opinion, including Asian opinion, for humanitarian treatment of Hungarians detained in connexion with the revolution. I therefore deeply deplore this inhuman act of execution, which surely will be universally condemned by people with a human heart all over the world. The United Nations must continue to devote its attention to this matter of Hungary." And to the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary I sent the following message: "I warmly appreciate excellent communique issued by Special Committee which has received whole-hearted approval throughout the world. After careful reflection, I am of opinion that Special Committee is doing the right thing in collecting more information for report to the General Assembly which alone can determine further action."
81. The special report of the Special Committee [A/ 3849] is now submitted to the General Assembly and will be duly acted upon. The practice of tolerance on the part of the Hungarian and Soviet Governments would, I am sure, bring about an effective solution to the problem, and thus I make an earnest appeal to their delegations to that effect.
82. The tenth principle of friendly co-operation of the Bandung Conference is respect for justice and international obligations. The corresponding provision in the Charter is couched in wider terms: it is to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained. One such condition is the encouragement of the progressive development of international law and its codification. I had the honour to be elected President of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which was held at Geneva earlier this year. Thanks to the monumental basic work of the International Law Commission and the good preparatory work of the Secretariat, the Conference was able to open for signature four conventions, namely: the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Convention on the High Seas, the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas and the Convention on the Continental Shelf, and also an Optional Protocol of Signature concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes.
83. These instruments constitute not only a codification of international law, but also a progressive development of it, for new rules are laid down, such as those on the continental shelf, for Instance. The achievement of the Conference stands as a concrete' evidence of the spirit of co-operation shown by the eighty-six participating States, to which I wish to pay a warm tribute of appreciation.
84. The law of the sea is a delicate subject in regard to which there are divergent views and wide differences of national interests. The wonder to me, therefore, was not that complete agreement could not yet be reached, but that so much could already be agreed upon; in fact, every matter was agreed upon except that of the breadth of the territorial sea, and even in regard to this matter, points of view were getting closer together, as is evidenced by the simple majority vote obtained for the United States compromise proposal.
85. It is my belief that a second conference should be held in 1959 or 1960 in order to resolve the outstanding question of the breadth of the territorial sea. Some time should be allowed for Interested Governments to negotiate, but there should be no long delay in convening the conference lest unilateral declarations of the breadth of the territorial sea and the contiguous fishing zone should complicate the situation. Agreement on the breadth of the territorial sea and, in particular, of the fishing limits would certainly promote and improve good-neighbourly relations among nations.
86. Although the world is now one and indivisible and peace, too, is one and indivisible — that is why Thailand has sent troops to serve under the United Nations Command in Korea and has sent officers to join the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon — yet, the development of friendly relations among neighbouring countries is a contribution which small nations can most usefully make to peace in a particular region. That has been and is the policy of my country, and I am glad to report that Thailand's relations with its immediate neighbours, Burma, Laos and the Federation of Malaya, are excellent. Of course, with a long common frontier, frontier problems of various kinds are inevitable, but, if the relations are friendly, they are settled amicably and permanent arrangements are made for the promotion of good-neighbourly relations along the common frontier.
87. This policy of friendship and good-neighbourliness of my country naturally applies to Cambodia as well and, I may even say, applies particularly to Cambodia, because Thailand and Cambodia are, in fact, sister nations. As such, however, we are sometimes afflicted with a family quarrel. There is an ancient shrine on the Thai side of the watershed frontier line, as defined in the treaties, and Thailand has been in possession of it even before Cambodia became independent. Cambodia now claims it, starting with a press campaign and a demonstration. The negotiations in Bangkok, unhappily, did not succeed; and so there, too, a press campaign and a demonstration occurred. But both sides have declared themselves in favour of further negotiations and a peaceful settlement, Thailand did not close the frontier, but merely redeclared the state of emergency on the frontier in order to prevent communist infiltrations.
88. In this connexion, I am happy to note the statement by the Prime Minister of Cambodia [756th meeting] that his Government respects the decision of neighbouring countries to adhere to organizations for common defence and that they would keep a constant and vigilant control over questionable elements in the Chinese and Viet-Namese minorities living in Cambodia that would tend to cause trouble to a neighbouring Government.
89. On behalf of my Government, I wish to state that Thailand, for its part, fully respects Cambodia's neutralist policy. As I have already stated, Thailand's relations with its other neutralist neighbours are excellent and there is no reason why the same should not be the case with Cambodia, especially, as the Charter enjoins us to practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours; and tolerance is a Buddhist virtue common to both Thailand and Cambodia.
90. Nor must political divergencies distract our attention from the common interests which draw us together in economic co-operation. The Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East has had the happy idea of setting up a programme for the integrated development of the Lower Mekong River Basin, involving co-operation among the four riparian States of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and the Republic of Viet- Nam. I attach great importance to this programme, because it is economic development that is needed in the under-developed countries. That is why Thailand is in favour of bilateral, as well as United Nations, programmes of technical and economic assistance, and we cordially welcome the establishment of the United Nations Special Fund. Thailand itself is encouraging private investment by a new law offering greater security and inducement.
91. Another matter which is of great concern to the under-developed countries is the problem of fluctuating commodity prices, and thus my delegation gladly welcomes the reconstitution of the Commission on International Commodity Trade. In the meantime, however, the co-operation of the Soviet Union is urgently needed in regard to tin. My Government has already approached the USSR Government with a view to its adhering to the International Tin Agreement. I hope for its favourable consideration.
92. The mention of atomic energy conjures up great prospects of industrial power for the good of humanity, on the one hand, the dire terror of utter destruction for the annihilation of mankind, on the other. But we must not be pessimistic. The technical talks on the detection of nuclear weapons tests succeeded, and it is our earnest hope that an agreement to suspend such tests will be forthcoming from the conversations at the end of October. It is also our ardent hope that the technical talks regarding security from surprise attack, which are to take place in November, will be successful and that an agreement in that matter will also be reached. There would then be better prospects of further progress in the disarmament talks. Furthermore, the very terror of the devastating power of a nuclear war serves as a deterrent in itself and cannot fail to instil into the Powers concerned an imperative sense of responsibility to avoid war.
93. The situation in Quemoy and the Taiwan Strait is certainly very serious and fraught with great danger. But you, Mr. President, no doubt, recall with me the statements of Premier Chou En-lai at the Bandung Conference pointing to the possibility of a peaceful solution to the question of Taiwan. Indeed, the resources of peace are many. Besides the negotiations at Warsaw, the success of which is the ardent desire of all peace-loving people throughout the world, there is the United Nations, which has the duty of preserving world peace and which has shown itself to be a good instrument of reconciliation. We have, in particular, the Secretary-General, in whom I have great faith as a conciliator. We also have Member States with diplomatic representatives in Peiping, who could lend their good offices. Indeed, the call of world public opinion for the prevention of a major War must be answered. The United Nations is not yet bankrupt in its statesmanship, and I am confident that a peaceful outcome will be found.