Maldives, 1982

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.