'Festering Problems Left By The Past'

New York, 14 September 2005

Address by the President of Pakistan to the High-Level Plenary Meeting ofUN General Assembly 14 September 2005 Mr. President,

It is a privilege to address this 60th Anniversary Summit of the UnitedNations.

We are participating in an historic event – the endeavour to establish ajust world order for the Twenty-first Century. The decisions we take here willhave far-reaching consequences. It is therefore our solemn responsibility tobequeath a legacy of hope and peace to future generations. We cannot afford tofail.

Thanks to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and to President Jean Ping, a year'sprocess of reflection and discussion has produced numerous ideas and proposalsto enhance international security, development and human rights.

This Special Summit offers us an opportunity to recommit ourselves to theprinciples and purposes of the UN Charter. Let us pledge to make the UnitedNations a more effective and relevant institution for the 21st century.

We believe that international security can be best promoted when every statesees peace as being in its best interest; when states believe that they canrealize their interests through mutual cooperation; when the supremacy ofequitable principles is established over the realities of unequal power; whenMember States agree to utilize the United Nations to harmonize their policiesand reconcile their interests.

The Security Council should work openly, on behalf of the general membership.The Council should become more representative; not by adding a new elite, but byreflecting more fully, the entire spectrum of the UN's membership. This can beachieved only through patient dialogue and general consensus.

Mr. President, The challenges confronting international peace and securityare formidable and many. Terrorism and the threat from Weapons of MassDestruction are among them. Yet, even as we address new threats, we should not,and we cannot, ignore the legacy of festering problems left by the past. Peaceand justice must come to the peoples of Palestine as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

We must not only be prepared to proclaim our principles; we must defend themand, above all, live up to them. Resolutions of the United Nations, especiallythe Security Council's decisions, must be implemented. It is in this spirit thatPakistan is pursuing the composite dialogue with India. We want the dialogueprocess to be result oriented and initiate a new era of peace and cooperation inSouth Asia. Our nations must not remain trapped, by hate and history, in a cycleof confrontation and conflict. For this to happen, it is essential to find ajust solution of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, acceptable to Pakistan,India and above all to the people of Kashmir.

Today, terrorism is a primary threat to world order. We must fight terrorism,in all its forms, outlaw it and eliminate it. We need a comprehensive strategyfor success. At the same time, we need to understand and address the motivesbehind terrorist acts. These may not justify terrorism; but they explain it. Toeliminate terrorist violence, we will need to eliminate it in the minds ofpotential terrorists. No religion sanctions terrorism; the motives ofterrorists, however misguided, are always political. We, therefore, need toredress political and economic injustice. I have suggested a strategy ofEnlightened Moderation, which can ensure success in eliminating terrorism andextremism. I trust that this will be reflected in the deliberations of the newCommission created by the Secretary-General on an "Alliance ofCivilizations".

Mr. President, Weapons of mass destruction must not fall into the hands ofterrorists. To prevent this, we must aim to eliminate both the terrorists aswell as the weapons of mass destruction.

The catastrophic consequences of a nuclear war make it imperative to preventone from ever taking place. Both the proliferation and the perpetual possessionof nuclear weapons pose an unacceptable global danger. We must evolve a newconsensus to achieve disarmament and non-proliferation.

We also need to prevent the destabilizing accumulation and build up ofconventional weapons and forces especially in regions of tension — such as theMiddle East, South Asia and North East Asia. Pakistan will continue to promote anuclear and conventional weapons restraint regime in South Asia.

Mr. President, Peace and development are interdependent. Although action fordevelopment must be largely local, it is critically dependent — in ourglobalized world — on the external economic environment. Paradoxically,globalization has increased both poverty and prosperity. The rules ofinternational trade and finance and technology access are weighted against thepoor and weak. In fact, the poor should be offered a "developmenthandicap" to enable them to successfully integrate into a world market ofunequal players.

Respect for human rights is an integral element of both peace anddevelopment. Economic rights are as important as political and civil rights. Ahungry man is not a free man. The new human rights architecture we will create— such as the proposed Human Rights Council — should advance human rights,through cooperation and mutual support. Genocide, ethnic cleansing and similargrave violations must be prevented. As a first step, the United Nations shouldbe given a standing authority to send a fact-finding mission to the area where aconflict has broken out.

Mr. President, Pakistan has contributed actively and constructively to thepreparation of this Summit's important decisions. We shall work equally toensure that our decisions are translated into action. At this Summit, let usresolve to make poverty history, peace permanent and freedom universal.

I thank you