India, 1996

It gives me great pleasure to

congratulate Ambassador Razali on his election as

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-first

session. He is not present here, but I would like to say

that he is no stranger to India. We are fully cognizant of

his sagacity and skills and repose our confidence in his

ability to successfully guide the General Assembly during

its fifty-first session. May I also express my delegation’s

warm appreciation for the presidency of his predecessor,

His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for a most

productive tenure as President of the Assembly in its

historic, landmark fiftieth year.

Six years ago I had the privilege of addressing the

historic forty-fifth session of this Assembly. We rejoiced

12

at the end of the cold war and believed that the animosities,

rivalries, suspicions and intrigues that had bedeviled the

past would now be overcome and the problems of the

world and their solutions could be addressed with greater,

perhaps pristine, clarity. We have welcomed the reduction

of global tensions and the opening up of new economic

possibilities between nations.

However, we cannot say that the new dawn has led to

a new and genuinely cooperative web of kinship and

collaboration. Regional conflicts and tensions continue to

occupy us. Development problems remain acute, and there

is less sensitivity to the genuine needs of struggling nations.

The voice of the rich and powerful nations rings louder

than ever, while the developing world feels itself more

marginalized and ignored than ever.

In these circumstances, it is even more necessary to

strive for a genuine spirit of joint international endeavour

in addressing the world’s problems. The United Nations is

the foremost embodiment of multilateralism. No single

nation or even group of nations today can expect to find

solutions to the world’s problems, nor are many problems

amenable to solutions in isolation. Global problems require

global institutions and global solutions. This role and duty

can fall only to the United Nations.

We are concerned at unilateral actions and at the

evident decline in the commitment to obligations under the

Charter of the United Nations. International cooperation is

necessary to meet the vast development needs of the

developing countries, to eliminate weapons of mass

destruction and to fight terrorism and crime. The United

Nations system, under which sovereign nations have joined

together to achieve their common objectives, is the

universal framework for international cooperation. The

Charter of the United Nations is the real basis for renewing

multilateralism. India recently joined 15 other Heads of

State or Government in stating that

“either nations move forward to strengthen

(multilateralism), or we risk having to face more

unilateralism and perhaps conflict and overt disregard

of international law and common values”.

The United Nations is at a crossroads. Its financial

crisis is the result of an unwarranted unwillingness on the

part of certain countries to pay their dues in full and on

time. Such deliberate targeting of the United Nations

represents the most acute threat to multilateral cooperation

and can do incalculable long-term damage.

Beyond the financial crisis of the United Nations

itself is the critical issue of financing global cooperation.

While the world remains confronted with enormous

problems of poverty, malnutrition, disease, ecological

degradation and waste, the will to contribute is on the

decline. Development assistance is at its lowest level in

decades. Negotiated replenishments of multilateral

development funds are not being honoured.

It is unfortunate that voices continue to be raised

questioning the role of the United Nations in the

economic growth and social development of developing

countries. It is necessary to restore to the United Nations,

in the coming century, the important role of eradicating

poverty and all the ills associated with it, of promoting

development and achieving social progress and better

living standards, with more freedom for all.

For this purpose, the multilateral economic system

needs to be reformed and the partnership of the United

Nations with other relevant institutions must to be

strengthened in order to achieve greater economic growth,

integration and sustainable development. The United

Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions need to

develop an effective partnership. While India welcomes

the initial, tentative steps towards such a partnership,

effective economic leadership requires that we work to

ensure a much closer relationship between global

economic institutions than has been the case so far.

Indeed, there is no alternative if the financing of long-

term global cooperation in economic and social fields is

to be assured. We need larger volumes of financial

assistance, greater predictability of resources and

unfettered access to the markets of developed countries.

It is also time that we energize our efforts to complete the

Agenda for Development and launch an effective follow-

up process, including in the context of the recent major

United Nations conferences.

India is unreservedly committed to the protection

and promotion of human rights. The profoundly

humanistic traditions of Indian civilization, with its

emphasis on tolerance, harmony, non-violence and the

inviolability of the individual, have been consolidated in

the Constitution of India, which is indeed a veritable bill

of human rights. All human rights are sacrosanct in India,

guaranteed by its Constitution, an independent judiciary,

a free press, public opinion vigorously expressed and an

independent National Human Rights Commission. To us

in India, the human rights of all segments of society are

sacrosanct and an article of faith rather than a policy.

13

We believe that international cooperation in the

protection and promotion of human rights should proceed

within the framework of respect for the sovereignty and

integrity of States. We deplore the selective use of human

rights issues as a form of political pressure, as an obstacle

to trade or as a condition for development assistance. Such

actions detract from the moral imperatives of human rights

promotion and impede the full realization of the human

rights of all people.

Human rights violations take many forms. Among the

most pernicious of them is terrorism. Terrorism seeks to

exploit the openness and freedom offered by democratic

societies to pursue narrow ends through the use of violence.

It must be combated by firm action at the national and

international level. We are dismayed when we hear certain

parties voice concern for the so-called rights of terrorists

while ignoring their persistent violation of the human rights

of their victims, including the right to life, freedom of

expression and the freedom to follow religious beliefs of

one’s own choice.

India took the lead in raising the issue of terrorism as

a threat to human rights almost five years ago. We are

pleased that despite initial and sometimes vocal opposition

by some western countries, terrorism is now accepted to be

the major threat to the enjoyment of human rights today. A

number of international declarations have been issued on

terrorism such as the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration, and the

G-7 Lyons Declaration of 27 June 1996. We are

encouraged that the international community now

recognizes terrorism as a major challenge to democracy,

human rights and peace. In this context, India will pursue

its call to adopt a binding international convention to

combat terrorism.

Fifty years after the United Nations was established,

the threat to humanity posed by nuclear weapons continues

unabated. We believe that India’s security, as indeed that of

all countries, lies in a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The only way to achieve this ultimate security is to

ban the production, possession and use of nuclear weapons

within an agreed time-frame. Partial and half-hearted arms

control measures, such as the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) or the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), defeat

this objective by legitimizing the possession of nuclear

weapons and permitting the non-explosive testing of nuclear

weapons by nuclear-weapon countries. India, therefore,

cannot be a party to such flawed arrangements.

Let me also emphasize that any effective

disarmament regime needs to be universal in its approach

and scope. The total elimination of all existing nuclear

weapons, as an indispensable step towards general and

complete disarmament under strict and efficient

international control, is the demand of the entire Non-

Aligned Movement, to which we fully subscribe. Partial

or regional approaches, as are sometimes put forward, do

not serve any useful purpose and can distract us from the

accepted goal.

At the same time, India remains committed to

participating fully and actively in any negotiations on a

treaty banning nuclear weapons and all types of tests, just

as it did in regard to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

India signed and deposited its instrument of

ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the

Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of

Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction two weeks

ago. India regrets that major chemical weapon producers

have been slow to ratify the Convention. We urge all

those countries which have still not done so to ratify the

Chemical Weapons Convention and to demonstrate their

readiness to move towards banning all weapons of mass

destruction.

India will work with all like-minded countries in

sponsoring draft resolutions on the establishment of an ad

hoc committee under the Conference on Disarmament for

beginning negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear

weapons in a time-bound framework. India expects all

countries, including those represented in the Canberra

Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons,

which support time-bound elimination of nuclear

weapons, to join in supporting such draft resolutions.

India will once again present the draft convention on

the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons at this

session of the General Assembly. India believes that the

urgency of negotiating that convention has been greatly

enhanced by the advisory opinion of the International

Court of Justice regarding the illegality of the use of

nuclear weapons.

At the recent session of the Conference on

Disarmament, India joined 27 non-aligned and neutral

countries to present a phased programme for the

elimination of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. India

asks that all countries join us in propagating and

promoting this joint proposal, both at the fifty-first

session of the General Assembly and in other forums.

14

India is in favour of a non-discriminatory and

universal ban on anti-personnel mines, which cripple or kill

a large number of civilians.

The continued credibility of the United Nations

requires reform of the Organization to reflect present-day

realities. While the membership of the United Nations has

increased greatly, the voices of the newly sovereign

countries in decision-making in the United Nations remain

unheard. There is an imbalance in the authority and weight

of structures and organs, just as there is an imbalance in the

weight of different countries or groups. The General

Assembly, the sole universal organ of the United Nations,

needs to find greater resonance in other bodies of the

system.

The Security Council must be made more

representative in order to enhance its legitimacy and

effectiveness. The vast increase in the membership of the

United Nations since its founding, especially of the

developing countries, must find adequate representation in

the categories of permanent and non-permanent

membership. A comprehensive proposal by the Non-

Aligned Movement for the reform and restructuring of the

Security Council is already on the table. India supports the

expansion of both the permanent and the non-permanent

categories. We are against piecemeal or temporary solutions

which discriminate against developing countries. We

believe that the same yardstick must be applied to all

countries, developed or developing, from all regions or

groups, for induction as permanent members. We believe

that under any objectively derived criteria for the expansion

of permanent members, India would be an obvious

candidate.

Reform and expansion must be an integral part of a

common package. The restructuring of the Security Council

must give expression to the impulse for reform. The

reforms must address not only the failings of the past, but

also the needs of the future.

Peacekeeping is a significant area of United Nations

activities, very often the most visible symbol of the

Organization’s presence on the ground. India has

participated in over 25 peacekeeping operations on four

continents, including some of the most sensitive and

prolonged, starting with Korea in 1953 and 1954, and

including the operations in Viet Nam, Congo, the Middle

East, Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia, El Salvador, Mozambique

and Rwanda. Indian peacekeepers are currently in the field

in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia and Kuwait.

Our participation has not been without cost. We have lost

100 peacekeepers for the United Nations cause. We have

also offered a fully-equipped brigade to the United

Nations standby arrangement. The performance of the

Indian troops has won universal recognition. India is one

of the few countries which can sustain large-scale troop

commitment over prolonged periods.

Our participation in United Nations peacekeeping

does not stem from considerations of narrow gain. We

have participated because we have been wanted and

because we have been asked, but most of all because of

our solidarity and empathy with the affected countries and

with the international community, as well as because of

our commitment to the United Nations and to the cause

of international peace and security.

India has offered its candidature for the non-

permanent seat on the Security Council from Asia for

1997 and 1998. Our candidature is rooted in the criteria

stipulated in the Charter: the principle of equity, our

unwavering commitment to the United Nations, and to the

cause of multilateralism, and our 50-year-long

contribution to the maintenance of international peace and

security and to the other purposes and principles of the

Organization. India has a unique record of supporting

United Nations activities against apartheid and

colonialism. We have richly contributed to the debates on

development, disarmament and human rights. We seek the

onerous responsibility of Council membership convinced

of the support of this Assembly.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay a warm

tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-

Ghali, for his successful stewardship during a most

difficult period. His services are a distinct asset to this

world body.

Let me briefly refer to India’s interaction with the

world. We have witnessed some remarkable changes in

the last few years. New vistas for greater cooperation are

now visible. The challenge lies in effectively seizing the

opportunities. We attach the highest importance to

developing cordial and friendly relations with our

neighbours with a view to promoting peace, stability and

mutual confidence in the region. We also seek to develop

stronger economic and commercial relations within the

region, for all-around prosperity. As current Chairman of

the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC), it will be our endeavour to promote

multifaceted cooperation in all spheres.

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The economic reforms embarked upon since 1991

have provided India with a new outward orientation that

seeks greater integration of India into the global

marketplace. Today, India is branching out and adding to

the substantive content of its relations with individual

countries of the region and beyond, developing and building

upon regional cooperation arrangements involving SAARC,

the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the

ASEAN Regional Forum, the Asia-Pacific Economic

Cooperation Council (APEC) and the Indian Ocean Rim, to

name a few.

Convinced of the need and utility of enhanced South-

South cooperation, we accord the highest priority to our

relations with Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. We

are proud to have been associated with Africa and its

causes in the United Nations since the inception of the

world body. We appreciate the role played by the

Organization of African Unity (OAU), which has striven to

find regional solutions to African problems. Its efforts must

be supplemented by the United Nations. The scramble for

Africa in the nineteenth century was for African land and

resources. We hope that the closing years of the present

century will see a scramble to redress African problems, the

genesis of which largely lies outside the region. The United

Nations must lead international efforts to meet Africa’s

needs and aspirations.

We are deeply concerned at the recent serious

incidents of violence in the West Bank and Gaza and by

Israeli authorities’ opening of a tunnel beneath Haram

Al-Sharif — the Temple Mount — in East Jerusalem,

which resulted in the tragic loss of several innocent lives

and large-scale injuries following violent clashes. The

current situation underlines the need for immediate and

effective measures to end the violence and to create a

climate that would enable purposeful negotiations based on

a recognition of the underlying causes of the conflict. These

developments also serve to emphasize the need to build

further on the agreements and understandings already

reached.

In the wave of the recent political changes in the

Middle East, India is encouraged by the reiteration by all

parties of their continued commitment to the Middle East

peace process based on the framework established by the

Madrid Conference. However, we are concerned that these

reaffirmations do not appear to have manifested themselves

in commensurate progress in the peace process. India urges

all parties to intensify their efforts towards realizing the

mutually agreed objectives of the Middle East peace

process, keeping in view that achieving durable peace and

stability in the Middle East requires solving the

Palestinian issue.

India has ties dating back to early history with

Afghanistan, a country with which we also share bonds of

kinship, culture and religion. We are deeply saddened by

the continued violence and loss of life in that country.

India stands for the unity, independence and territorial

integrity of Afghanistan. We urge all Afghan parties to

resolve their differences through early peaceful dialogue

and negotiations. We support the efforts of the Secretary-

General and his special representative to bring about a

solution in Afghanistan.

The Non-Aligned Movement figures firmly in

India’s world view and constitutes an important plank in

our foreign policy. We remain firmly committed to the

philosophy and values of the Non-Aligned Movement. For

us, non-alignment means independence of thought and

autonomy of choice. It also means working in cooperation

with the largest number of countries. Last year’s non-

aligned summit in Colombia reinforced our faith in the

ability and resilience of the Movement, its responsiveness

to change and its effectiveness in today’s global situation.

India will be privileged to host the next ministerial

conference of the non-aligned countries in New Delhi in

1997.

India is a progressive country charting a balanced

course between economic growth and social justice, and

science and tradition. It is committed to the values of

peace, non-violence, coexistence, pluralism, tolerance and

constructive cooperation. Culturally, India is a bridge

between traditional cultures and emergent trends.

Politically, India will remain anchored in a pluralistic,

liberal democracy that can provide space for all its

constituents and internal interlocutors.

Before I conclude, I am reminded of an ancient Rig

Vedic hymn which reads:

“O citizens of the world!

Live in harmony and concord

Be organized and cooperative

Speak with one voice

And make your resolutions with one Mind.”

May this invocation to harmony, cooperation,

consensus and solidarity continue to guide our

deliberations and actions.

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