Need for Meaningful Steps
India has consistently supported the cause of disarmament, and we hope that meaningful steps would be taken towards disarmament, including nuclear disarmament.
Perhaps the most significant achievement of the U.N. over the years has been to focus increasing attention on economic co-operation and the problems that face developing countries. The adoption of the U.N. Charter on Economic Rights and Duties in 1974 and the resolutions adopted at the Sixth and Seventh Sessions of the U.N. General Assembly are important landmarks in this context. We hope that actual implementation will not fall short of expectations and continuing efforts will be made towards the establishment of the new international economic order.
The United Nations has grown from its original 50 members to 144 today, of whom the vast majority are developing countries. This fundamental change in the character of the membership of the U.N. must reflect itself in the priorities and activities of the Organisation. The U.N. system today concerns itself not merely with "saving succeeding generations from these scourge of war" but equally with economic and social questions that vitally concern the interests of the vast majority of the world's countries and peoples. The success of the U.N. Organisation will be related to the extent to which it succeeds in creating a new world order, which is not only free from war but also free from want.
The U.N. is at a crucial point of its history. There is growing awareness today of the interdependence between people and nations. But the problems posed by this realisation are only just beginning to be tackled.
India has firm faith in the U.N. System. We have always extended our fullest co-operation to it and we shall continue to do so. We shall always be active in the furtherance of the objectives of the United Nations, for its success in achieving the unity of man, and upholding the dignity of human beings.
In co-operation with other countries, we will continue to seek the fulfillment of our hopes and aspirations through the more effective functioning of the U.N. Let us all today rededicate ourselves to the ideals enshrined in the U.N. Charter and reaffirm our determination to work, at the U.N. and elsewhere, towards the goals or universal peace and economic and social betterment.