Mr. President, I should like to begin my speech by congratulating you
on behalf of my delegation on your election to the presidency of the
thirty seventh session of the General Assembly. We are confident that
your vast experience, knowledge and personal wisdom will guide our
deliberations to a constructive conclusion. May I also express our
deep appreciation and thanks to your predecessor, Mr. Kittani, for
his excellent performance in discharging the duties of his office. I
should also like to extend my delegation's sincere greetings to the
Secretary General, with the renewed assurances of my Government's
support for his dedicated efforts in upholding the objectives of the
Organization. We are meeting at a time of increasing tension and
anxiety. We are in a situation which demands that serious and urgent
steps be taken to prevent any further deterioration in the
international climate and to align the norms of international
behavior with the proper human values prescribed in the Charter. The
need to strengthen the role of the United Nations in maintaining
world peace and security is felt at the present stage more strongly
than ever before. We should not allow the opportunity of this meeting
to pass without effectively renewing our commitments to the
objectives of the Organization, and fulfilling the aspirations of our
peoples. In his remarkable report to the Assembly, the Secretary
General has very ably diagnosed the world situation, and my
delegation fully agrees with him that our prime objective at this
crucial moment should be to renew the concept of collective action
for peace and security, and to render the United Nations more capable
of carrying out its primary function. The United Nations was created
for the purpose of harmonizing the actions of nations in the
attainment of common ends and it should effectively remain so with
the maximum capacity to safeguard peace and to be a forum for
responsible discussions and negotiations between nations. We feel
also that the responsibility as well as the authority of the Security
Council in its function as the primary instrument for maintaining
international peace and security should be reconfirmed and further
strengthened by all possible means. In this context, my delegation
wishes to stress the important commitment of the permanent members of
the Council and their responsibilities to world peace. It is
frightening to imagine a world with no power at all to deal with
situations that endanger international peace. The recent military
adventures in Lebanon and the earlier foreign interventions in
Afghanistan, Kampuchea and some other countries in Africa and Latin
America have indeed alarmed the world community regarding the dangers
of a new international anarchy. Therefore it is of the utmost
importance that we seriously and sincerely embark on a process that
will free mankind of these fears and anxieties. My delegation feels
that we should accelerate our efforts to achieve world disarmament.
While we concentrate on removing the danger of a nuclear war, we
should continue with renewed determination our efforts to limit the
arms race and the production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons as
well as of other destructive conventional weapons. My delegation will
continue to support the efforts of the world community in the
direction of total disarmament, including the safeguarding of outer
space, prohibition of nuclear weapon tests and establishment of
nuclear weapon free zones. The situation in the Middle East remains
the most pressing issue on the international scene. The tragic events
in Lebanon have added new dimensions to the gravity of the problem to
which the Organization has to address itself. And yet the question of
Palestine the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self
determination and freedom remains at the heart of the issue. The key
to any lasting solution and to peace in that crucial area is, as is
evident from the sequence of recent events, the realization of the
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to
have their own independent homeland. The world has witnessed with
anger and dismay the Israeli invasion of Lebanon while it continued
its illegal occupation of other territories, perpetuating its policy
of expansion through the establishment of illegal settlements,
ignoring and rejecting United Nations resolutions and violating all
norms of international behavior. My Government has joined the world
community in its repeated condemnation of the Israeli aggression
against Arab territories and atrocities in the occupied territories.
The invasion of Lebanon under the cruel pretext of liquidating the
PLO, which symbolizes the legitimate will of the Palestinian people,
has clearly revealed the nature of Israeli policies in the area.
Israel is not only a radical entity that aims to expand at the
expense of other peoples and of their rights, but is also a force
that will not hesitate to interfere in the internal affairs of
sovereign States through occupation, terrorism and even assassination
in order to achieve unjustifiable objectives. The world community,
including States which continue to sympathize with Israel, should
now, in particular after seeing the horrible consequences of its
invasion of Lebanon, act firmly to stop the arrogance and
expansionism of Israel. Among the central issues of international
concern remain the questions of Afghanistan and Kampuchea, two small
countries which were subjected to foreign invasion. My delegation
reiterates its policy of endorsing the United Nations resolutions
which condemn foreign intervention and call for the withdrawal of
foreign forces from those two countries, allowing the peoples of
Afghanistan and Kampuchea the opportunity to exercise their own
rights without outside influence or pressure, including the right of
refugees to return to their homes in safety and honor. We welcome the
efforts of the Secretary General in initiating talks with the parties
concerned aimed at finding a political solution to the problems
involved. In the same context and within the framework of the same
principles involved, we look at the events in Africa and Latin
America in which intervention in the internal affairs of countries
took place under different pretexts in the past few years. My country
is deeply concerned over this trend of military intervention, which
undermines the orderly and peaceful existence of nations. Among
issues of grave concern to the Organization and to the world as a
whole is the question of South West Africa. The continuation by South
Africa of its occupation of Namibia, despite the vigorous efforts of
the United Nations to grant independence to that deprived nation,
constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and endangers
world peace and the stability of the African region. It is our duty
to continue political and economic pressure on South Africa in our
efforts to force it to concede to the logic of human realities and to
continue our support to the people of Namibia under the leadership of
SWAPO. While condemning the occupation of Namibia by South Africa, my
Government reiterates its support to the oppressed people in South
Africa itself under its inhuman policy in their struggle for
equality, justice and dignity. Another question of concern to us is
the situation in Cyprus. We are disappointed by the slow progress in
negotiations between the parties concerned with the aim of reaching
an honorable solution to the prolonged internal dispute that will at
the same time ensure the rights of the communities and preserve the
national and territorial integrity of the country. My country is
concerned also about the stalemate in the dialogue between the
peoples of North and South Korea for the purpose of their peaceful
reunification. We believe that the international community should
continue its support to the Korean people and encourage them to
continue that process within the framework of their own aspirations,
free from outside influence and pressure. In this respect we should
welcome all initiatives calling for the resumption of talks between
the two sides. We are deeply concerned that thewar between Iraq and
the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to rage despite the repeated
appeals by the world community for a cease fire and for the solution
of the dispute between those two neighboring countries by peaceful
means. Maldives continues to be guided by a policy of non alignment
and has always endeavored humbly to contribute its modest share in
order to strengthen the unity and the charter of the nonaligned
movement, in sincerity for peace, friendship and international
cooperation. Turning to our region and to a question of immediate
concern to my country, I wish to confirm our full endorsement of and
support for the proposal to transform the Indian Ocean into a zone of
peace, not only because of our strong opposition to the presence of
foreign military bases and facilities in the Indian Ocean but also
because of the awareness of increasing tension in the region and of
the strong possibility of their involvement in provoking and
escalating conflicts in the area. The rivalry among the big Powers
and their military presence in our own neighborhood divert our
attention to potential dangers and compel us to exhaust our resources
on otherwise unnecessary security measures, while our limited
resources are most vitally needed for the promotion of the welfare of
our peoples and the development of our economies. The efforts to
implement the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace must
therefore be renewed and continued within the framework of the
fundamental elements of the Declaration. We feel that the Colombo
Conference should be held on as early a date as possible. It may be
true that the convening of the Conference will not be enough to
resolve all the problems pertaining to the security of our region.
However, we are convinced that the meeting will contribute to the
favorable development of the concept and improve the climate in the
region. My country is indeed glad to note the successful conclusion
of the negotiations at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law
of the Sea with the adoption of a comprehensive Convention on the Law
of the Sea which reflects the expectations of the world community. It
is our hope that the acceptance of the Convention by all the States
Members of the United Nations will become a reality as soon as
possible. My delegation believes that the Convention will be an
extremely important instrument far the promotion of a peaceful and
orderly discipline in ocean affairs as well as for the exploitation
of the immense resources of the sea and the sea bed in a better and
more dignified manner, which would be beneficial for mankind as a
whole. While we focus our attention on the critical developments on
the international political scene, we find that further deterioration
and serious erosion is taking place in multilateral economic
relations mainly due to the failure of some of the developed
countries to understand the inevitability of interdependence. My
delegation feels that the concept of global negotiation should be
further pursued and that new initiatives should be undertaken to
accelerate our effort to establish a new international economic
order. Meanwhile we should continue our multilateral negotiations at
the sectorial levels within and outside the specialized world bodies.
The process should not be allowed to slow down under the pressure of
the still existing obsessions of protectionism and adverse national
policies. We should sincerely and collectively address ourselves to
all the stresses and strains of the entire economic system of the
world, which extend beyond the relationship between North and South.
Meanwhile we are convinced that the promotion of measures for
collective self reliance among the developing countries is now more
indispensable than ever. In this regard we endorse the outcome of the
meeting of the Intergovernmental Follow Up and Coordination Committee
on economic cooperation among developing countries held in August in
Manila. As one of the least developed countries of the third world,
Maldives was happy to note the positive responses from many ofthe
developing countries to the recommendations of last year's Paris
Conference. For our part, we shall try to demonstrate to the donor
countries and to our friends all over the world that we are sincere
and serious in our efforts to develop our country and to emerge from
the bracket of underdevelopment to an appropriate stage of steady
national growth. We sincerely hope that the recommendations of the
Paris Conference will be followed up effectively, and we look forward
to the round table meetings scheduled to take place in the near
future in the earnest hope that they will produce positive results.
In conclusion I should like to reaffirm my country's faith and trust
in the Organization as the instrument with the most potential for
maintaining peace and security in the world and fulfilling the
aspirations of mankind to justice and prosperity. We are bound by
serious constraints and difficulties. We are more often faced with
frustrating situations such as that through which we are passing
today. However, our faith and trust in the noble principles enshrined
in the Charter of the United Nations demand of us that we renew our
commitments and continue our efforts to strengthen the role of the
Organization in fulfilling the lofty objectives of the Charter.