This is a welcome statement. We trust that it will be reciprocated by other great powers so that existing foreign military bases such as Diego Garcia are eliminated and the Declaration of the General Assembly that the Indian Ocean shall be a zone of peace can become a reality.
India attaches great importance to the work of the U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea. While it has succeeded in evolving a consensus on many important issues, the search for a consensus is still continuing on the remaining issues like the system of exploitation of the international sea-bed area and its resources which are the common heritage of mankind. The developing countries, which have suffered from the consequences of colonial domination and the arbitrary operations of an unjust economic order, cannot be deprived of their legitimate share in the vast sea-bed resources by technologically advanced countries unilaterally exploiting the resources.
I should like to say a few words about a problem that has been recently plaguing many countries and affecting the lives of all travellers. It is the pernicious practice of making hostages of innocent persons for political or other reasons. I feel sure that this practice deserves to be condemned by all States in the strongest terms. But what is more important is that we should all do something more to put an end to it. The initiative taken by the Federal Republic of Germany to propose an international convention against the taking of hostages is timely. The terms of such a convention should be so drafted as to secure the widest possible support.
Good Neighbourly Relations
In our part of the world, India has been pursuing a deliberate policy of normalising and improving relations with all its neighbours. We intend to continue to persist in developing good neighbourly relations with all.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan referred the other day to the so-called dispute relating to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. He also referred to the resolutions of the Security Council of 1948 and 1949. Those resolutions were not implemented at that time because Pakistan did not fulfill certain essential pre-conditions that had been laid down in them. As a consequence the resolutions became obsolete and this was repeatedly made clear to the Security Council. In our opinion, it is now entirely unrealistic to hark back on those resolutions.