General Assembly Session 49 meeting 47

Mr. Bhatia (India)

Our congratulations go to the President, Mr. Essy, who assumed the presidency at a significant juncture in the evolution of the functioning of the United Nations. The discussions on the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/49/1) provide a particularly opportune occasion for us to share our vision of the United Nations as we approach its fiftieth anniversary and as we move ever closer to the twenty-first century.

At the outset, I would like to place on record my Government's deep appreciation for the leadership and drive that Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has provided to the functioning of the United Nations. His deep understanding of the problems that face the international community at this critical juncture in its history are a great asset. We applaud his efforts in attempting to provide a new vision for the United Nations, keeping in view the individual complexities that abound in Member States and the need for consensus decision-making.

The report of the Secretary-General has been painstakingly produced. In his very opening remarks, the Secretary-General has sought to correct the impression that the United Nations as an Organization is dedicated primarily to peace-keeping. He stresses that the United Nations is deepening its attention to the foundations of peace, which lie in the realm of development. We in India have been concerned at the imbalance that created the impression referred to by the Secretary-General, and we firmly believe that the new agenda of the United Nations must give peace and development equal priority and treatment. It will be recalled that in his statement at the 14th meeting, on 3 October 1994, the leader of the Indian delegation to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session stressed that with its universal participation and comprehensive mandate, the General Assembly should approach such a holistic vision and revitalize that vision into action.

As we debate the report of the Secretary-General in the perspective of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and the approach of the twenty-first century, we should perhaps first dwell upon the challenges that we are likely to carry from the past into the twenty-first century. An understanding of these challenges is critical to the new role that we envisage for the United Nations. The United Nations is constituted of sovereign nation-States and the challenge they face on the path of nation-building, based on pluralism, is first and foremost the massive challenge of development. Failure to meet this challenge would mean greater inequality and poverty, which would only breed further tension. The other major challenges are care for the environment, the threat to the unity and peace of nation-States and fundamentalist fanaticism traceable to causes unrelated to religion.

The Secretary-General's annual report makes a valiant effort to address the challenges to which I have referred. The position of my Government on the issues involved and the methodology for addressing these challenges was spelt out in some detail in the statement of the leader of the Indian delegation in the general debate on 3 October 1994.

The efforts made by my Government to adapt to the historic changes that have taken place in the world during the past few years have focused on adapting available positive ideas, processes and technologies to India's specific requirements. In doing so, we do not intend to forget our own traditions and our own special circumstances. The challenges are common, but uniform solutions, to be successfully implemented, keeping in view considerations of equity, must necessarily take cognizance of national situations.

Solutions must also be flexible. As the Prime Minister of India once described it:

"In India we recognize the change but maintain a balance, which has come to be known as the middle way."

We believe that at this United Nations we must find a "collective middle way" that reflects the genius of our individual traditions and is consistent with the need for rapid economic development, modernity and sustained peace.

The United Nations is today involved in attempting to keep the peace in different parts of the world. In the absence of a common vision in the post-cold-war era, its experiences in this domain have been mixed. In spite of the end of the cold war, the perception persists that, somehow, balance-of-power considerations continue to impact on decision-making at the United Nations. The notions of balance of power and the retention of exclusive rights for the militarily and economically dominant States are still preponderant. It is still being argued by some leading analysts that a new world order will have to emerge, much as it did in the past century, from a reconciliation and balancing of competing national interests. It is regrettable that such perceptions not only exist but continue to influence the activities of the international community. For the international community to succeed in the imperative of maintaining international peace and security, it must be ensured that the purposes and principles set forth in the United Nations Charter are adhered to, not only by Member States, but by the Organization itself and its specialized agencies.

I have chosen to address the report of the Secretary-General in philosophical terms, for I believe that our debate on his report provides us with yet another opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and to focus the United Nations on a direction that would enable us together to establish a new world order characterized by true equity, peace and prosperity for all peoples and nations.

Before I conclude, I should like to associate my delegation with the statement made earlier today by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.