India, 1992

May I, at the outset, congratulate you. Sir,

on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at this session.

I should also like to express our appreciation for the stewardship of the

forty-sixth session of the General Assembly by your predecessor.

Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia.

This is the first session of the General Assembly since

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali assumed the office of Secretary-General of the

United Nations, and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to his dynamism,

diplomatic skills and zeal for reform.

I should also like to welcome into our midst the new Members of the

United Nations and wish them success in their multifarious efforts and tasks.

There have been dramatic changes world wide since the Assembly last met,

in 1991. Some of these changes augur well, while others present uncertain

prospects. While the cold war and the East-West confrontation are now,

happily, but aberrations of the past, the shadow of conflict and suffering

looms large in Yugoslavia, in Somalia and, indeed, in many other parts of the

world.

We cannot, therefore, be complacent or euphoric. What should have made

the world safer has at the same time unleashed tendencies ethnic, sectarian

and other - that threaten to keep it unsafe. The efforts of developing

countries to improve their socio-economic conditions remain hamstrung by the

inequities of the present international economic order.

Therefore, what we need to work for is a new international order free

from war, poverty, illiteracy and injustice. In this great endeavour the

United Nations has a central role to play. Some eight and a half months ago,

in this very city of New York, at the summit of the Security Council,

Prime Minister Narasimha Rao pointed out that

"Lasting peace and security necessarily require comparable levels of

human happiness across the globe. It is impossible to think of a United

Nations functioning usefully or harmoniously while humankind continues to

be riddled with ever-increasing disparities". (S/PV.3046. p. 96)

That is the concern that animates and reinforces our commitment to a United

Nations dedicated as much to peace and stability as to progress and prosperity.

The international community's efforts in this direction are none the less

haunted by the shadow of continuing violence and conflict around the world.

India has been deeply concerned at the conflict in Yugoslavia. The tragedy of

Bosnia and Herzegovina demands redress. Its people must be given the chance

to lead their lives in peace. India believes that the good work the United

Nations is doing in that region deserves all our support. We also trust that

decisions taken here will not complicate either the search for peace or the

functioning of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in a difficult

and dangerous situation.

Somalia's tragedy is equally heart-rending. The wretchedness of its

people, caught in a seemingly endless cycle of violence and misery, cries out

for redress. The United Nations has instituted a valiant and generous

operation there to provide relief to those affected. India believes that all

the Somalian parties should work together to bring the conflict to an end so

that tranquillity can be restored and the people of Somalia can be given the

chance to work out their own destinies in peace.

After years of suffering, the people of Cambodia aspire to build a

sovereign, independent, non-aligned nation for themselves. The United Nations

cannot falter in Cambodia, and the parties concerned in that country have a

responsibility to ensure the success of the United Nations efforts.

India has consistently supported the sovereignty, territorial integrity

and non-aligned status of Afghanistan. We hope that all the parties there

will work to restore peace and harmony so that the people of Afghanistan can

have the opportunity, free of violence and conflict, to work for their own

well-being.

A glimmer of hope is visible on the West Asian horizon, with Israel and

its Arab neighbours settling down to a dialogue. The numerous resolutions

adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly provide the necessary

goals for those negotiations. The occupation of Arab lands should be vacated

and the restitution of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,

including their right to establish an independent State, as well as the

security of all States in the region, should be assured if a genuine

settlement with lasting peace is to be achieved in that part of the world.

What the United Nations was able to do in restoring to Kuwait its

independence and sovereignty was a singular achievement. India has

traditionally enjoyed the warmest of relations with Kuwait, and we trust that

following the restoration of its sovereignty Kuwait will also be able to

recover the prosperity that it formerly enjoyed.

I should like to add here that India feels sympathy for the civilian

population of Iraq, and we believe that its needs should be looked at with

generosity. Iraq's sovereignty as a State and its territorial integrity

should be respected.

The recent unfortunate violence in South Africa and the setback to the

negotiations there for the elimination of apartheid will, we hope, be

temporary. It is encouraging that the parties concerned have welcomed the

catalytic role of the United Nations, which is fully committed to the

objective of establishing a democratic, non-racial and united South Africa.

As the country that first brought the question of apartheid to the United

Nations in 1946, India is hopeful that the presence of United Nations

observers will help to end the violence there and to get the negotiating

process going once again.

India has noted the recent changes in Fiji. I hope that the Government

of Fiji will eschew racial and ethnic discrimination and revert to democratic

governance at an early date.

The Secretary-General has been able to record some progress on the issue

of Cyprus. The acceptance by the parties concerned of the Secretary-General's

"set of ideas" is significant. We share the Secretary-General's hope that the

next round of direct talks in October will be the conclusive one.

At this session the Assembly will take up the matter of the recently

negotiated chemical-weapons Convention. The Convention opens up possibilities

for similar action in other areas of disarmament. In this context, India in

1988 proposed an action plan for nuclear disarmament within a specified

time-frame. As an immediate step, the United Nations should envisage the

following: a convention on the non-use of nuclear weapons, a verifiable

freeze on the production of fissionable material for weapons purposes, a

suspension of nuclear-weapon tests and negotiations on general and complete

disarmament.

Non-proliferation is a laudable objective, and India's commitment to it

has been affirmed time and again. But there should be no distinction between

nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear-weapon States when it comes to rights

and obligations. The geographical spread of nuclear arsenals has, as it were,

nuclearized the globe. Therefore, the international community's efforts

should be directed against that global menace. As part of them, regional

non-proliferation should be considered only within the context of a properly

specified region, taking into account the security concerns of the countries

of the region, whose prior agreement should be obtained.

Human rights have gained emphasis in recent times, and deservedly so.

India welcomes the changes around the world that have strengthened human

rights and fundamental freedoms. In line with our democratic traditions,

independent judiciary and press and alert public, India has decided to set up

a national human-rights commission further to safeguard and promote

fundamental human rights in India.

I should like to point out here that one of the most vicious forms of

human-rights violations today is the violence unleashed by terrorists. And

terrorism assumes a particularly pernicious character when it is aided,

abetted and sponsored from abroad. Such sponsorship is against the principles

of the United Nations Charter, and should be vigorously opposed by all.

The United Nations recognizes its responsibilities for providing

humanitarian assistance to Member States facing grave humanitarian crises.

The newly created capacity of the United Nations to deal with such situations

has performed creditably. It is important in this context that we mobilize

the United Nations to address the root causes of many such disruptions:

poverty, illiteracy and lack of development. It is equally important for the

United Nations to be seen to be acting correctly and impartially in this field

and at the request of the country concerned.

The report of the Secretary-General entitled "An Agenda for Peace"

(A/47/277) articulates the wealth of experience that the United Nations has

gained in recent years in peacemaking and peace-keeping, and is an important

and welcome input into our study of how the role of the United Nations in the

maintenance of international peace and security can be strengthened. India,

given its traditional and long-standing contribution to United Nations

peace-keeping forces, takes a special interest in the matter. I trust that we

shall be able to respond positively and constructively, in keeping with the

United Nations Charter, to the Secretary-General's ideas. It should be

ensured that the measures envisaged do not lead to the abridgement of the

sovereignty and territorial integrity of States. They should also respect the

cardinal tenet of non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

Just as international activism should not violate accepted norms of

international relations, the principle of self-determination has to be seen in

the context of respect for national sovereignty. Self-determination can apply

only to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation, and

not to integral parts of sovereign nations.

The implementation of the proposals made by the Secretary-General will

mean a more vigorous Security Council. An enhanced mandate for the Council

requires matching transparency and democracy in its functioning. This cannot

be done without an expansion of the membership of the Council to reflect the

increased membership of the United Nations over the past few years, as well as

the realities of the many changes in the international situation. And here I

would submit that along with economic criteria, other relevant criteria should

be given due weight in this context.

The expansion in membership that I referred to is all the more essential

if the Council is to ensure its moral sanction and political effectiveness.

As the Secretary-General points out in his report on the work of the

Organization

"Democracy within the family of nations means the application of its

principles within the world Organization itself." (A/47/1, para. 169)

Similarly, the General Assembly has to be made more effective so as to

represent not only the changes in its membership, but also the significant

character of its universal composition.

An agenda for development is as important to the United Nations as an

agenda for peace. Any effort to assign to the United Nations only a

complementary role in the economic and social field is, in fact, contrary to

the letter and spirit of the Charter. The United Nations should continue to

have a central role in macroeconomic policy formulation and implementation,

because this is the only forum for reaching an international consensus on

development. Developing nations around the globe, including India, are

engaged in major reforms of their internal economic policies and mechanisms

with a view to integrating their economies with the global economy. These

reforms will have very limited meaning unless the external economic

environment becomes conducive to the growth and development of developing

countries.

The Secretary-General, in his report on the work of the Organization,

makes it clear that

"the Organization's responsibilities and commitments in the political and

security area should not be carried out at the expense of its

responsibilities in the development field ..." (A/47/1, para. 66)

This underpins and reinforces the continuing commitment of the United Nations

in the field of development, particularly of the developing countries.

The world economy is integrating both globally and regionally. But in

the process, the needs of the developing countries are not finding the

attention and response that they deserve. Hence, it becomes imperative that

certain international events succeed such as the Uruguay Round of

Multilateral Trade Negotiations, whose early, successful and balanced outcome

would inject growth impulses into the world economy as a whole. The

North-South dialogue is languishing and deserves reactivation. There are

various other inequities in global economic interaction - such as poor

commodity prices, monetary imbalances and others that call for urgent

redress. The developing countries look to the United Nations for correctives

in these fields. Socio-economic progress in developing countries will, in

turn - I have no doubt about it enrich the prosperity of the developed world

itself.

Here, may I mention a disquieting aspect in this field, namely the

tendency to impose non-economic conditionalities in international development

assistance. They should be avoided so that the effectiveness of development

assistance may not be impaired.

My delegation sees merit in a number of proposals in the area of the

developmental activities of the United Nations put forward by various groups,

particularly the Nordic countries. In our view, one of the principal

objectives of the exercise should be to decentralize the operational

activities of the United Nations system so that countries and regions with

their special characteristics and levels of development may be able to

implement programmes suitable to them. Also, adequate resources should be

found to promote development in the developing countries.

The process of the restructuring of the United Nations should take into

account the additional responsibilities assigned to the United Nations by the

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held

this year. The concept of sustainable development has to be translated into

workable strategies and policy measures. In the pursuit of sustainable

development, developing countries need resources and, what is more, technical

assistance, as well as environmentally sound technologies on preferential and

concessional terms. I do hope that the establishment of a Commission on

Sustainable Development in the course of the present session will lead to

effective follow-up of UNCED. The creation of a Planet Protection Fund, which

places on all countries, except the least developed, an obligation to acquire

and develop environment-friendly technologies, will facilitate universal

participation in the collective effort to attain sustainable development.

The non-aligned countries, meeting at the level of Heads of State or

Government in Jakarta earlier this month, issued the Jakarta message, which

states:

"A shift in focus of international relations to strengthen multilateral

cooperation based on genuine interdependence, mutuality of interests and

shared responsibility, has become indispensable."

If we, in the international community and here at the United Nations, are to

cooperate to combat global menaces and inequalities, we will need to forge a

global partnership. And here, I am reminded of what the Prime Minister of

India stated at the recent summit of non-aligned countries to which I have

referred:

"We are happy to note that the United Nations, at last, is coming into

its own in the fifth decade of its existence. While even today there is

a tendency to subordinate the global agenda to narrow national concerns,

we are happy to note that the United Nations is more effective than ever

before. The question now is to make it even more effective."

Let us also hope that the Assembly as its present session will promote

the effectiveness of the United Nations even further by shaping it as an

instrument of international consensus and action and of common benefit in all

matters of international concern.