New York USA Souvenir 1989 — Page 39
I Having obtained the required majority, Mr. Muham- mad Zafrulla Khan (Pakistan) was elected President of the seventeenth session of the General Assembly and took the Chair. Address by Mr. Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, President of the seventeenth session of the General Assembly 10. The PRESIDENT: I am deeply moved at the honour you have done me in electing me to serve you as President of this seventeenth regular session of the General Assemb l y. I am deeply conscious of the heavy responsibility this mark of your confidence places upon my shoulders and I pray God, humbly, sincerely and earnestly, of His grace and mercy, so to guide me, in His wisdom, that in the discharge of my responsibilities I may prove worthy of your con- fidence. Oh Lord, grant me understanding; make my task easy; remove the impediment in my speech so that they may understand me. 11. I appreciate that the honour you have done me is a tribute to the country and to the people whom I have the honour to represent here. Pakistan is not a great Power, nor a country which, apart from its own secu- rity and the well-being of its people, has any ambition or interest other than the common interest of all of us here; that is to say, the creation of a world in which peace may reign and law prevail, so that through beneficent co-operation, the common man in all the regions of the earth might at long last be enabled to claim and possess his rightful inheritance of a fuller, richer and happier life. u. uver tne years, Pakistan has given proof of its loyalty to the Charter of the United Nations and of its sincere devotion to the spirit and purposes underlying the provisions of that Charter. By its conduct and policy Pakistan has clearly affirmed its faith in the right of all peoples and nations, indeed of all human beings, to freedom, dignity and a reasonable standard of well-being. These principles and ideals , as well as the yearning of hundreds of millions of my fellow beings around the globe to comprehend their effect upon their own lives, occupy the forefront of my mind as I begin to discharge the responsibilities of this high office. 13. The example set by my distinguished predecessor , Mr. Mongi Slim, willbeasourceofinspiration for me. His many gifts and virtues can hardly be surpassed. I shall be content if I can, in some measure, emulate his qualities of patience and courtesy and his great gift for clarity. We are fortunate in that Mr. Slim has put down on paper his thoughts on the organization and functioning of the Assembly. The suggestions made by him form the subject of a separate item on the agenda and I will not, at this stage, go into the merits of these valuable and thought-provoking proposals. It is, however, generally recognized that with the in- crease in the number of Members and in the number and importance of the items placed on the agenda, some thought must be given to ways of organizing the work of the annual sessions of the Assembly in such a manner that, without loss of efficiency, it can be brought to a successful conclusion expeditiously. In the meantime much can be done to make our labours proceed more smoothly by the voluntary exercise of diligence, restraint and punctuality on the part of us all, I am confident that I may count upon the generosity and co-operation of all Members of this Assembly to that end. 39 14. I am fortified also in the knowledge that I shall have the benefit of the assistance and advice of the Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General whose devotion to the Organization and to the ideals and pur- poses of the Charter is established beyond doubt. 15. The seventeenth session of the General Assem- bly, like its predecessor, has a long and difficult agenda before it. While this session opens in a more tranquil atmosphere than did the preceding session, it is confronted with many grave issues, some of a momentous nature for the future of mankind as well as of this Organization. It is not my purpose, nor would it be appropriate for me, to 'lienture any obser- vations as to the substance of the items included in the agenda. I should like only to note with pleasure that the very first item you will be called on to con- sider is the one relating to the admission of new Mem- bers. The applications of four new Members-Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago-have al- ready been approved by the Security Council. It is hoped that in the course of this session the Assembly will be able to welcome Uganda to its membership also. It is a matter of special gratification and joy that the travail of the brave and gallant people of Algeria is at an end and that we shall soon see them also take their rightful place in our midst. 16. With the admission of every new Member the map of the wor Id changes a little and this Organization is one step nearer to the goal of becoming truly the tribune of mankind. The relationship between nations is undergoing a healthy change from one of dominance and subservience to one of equality and co-operation. Al> a. . ;. :;nseq. . . enoe, amity lS uOW in the proot::::oS of l't::- placing strife and discord is yielding to beneficent co-operation. 17. There is a striving today among all peoples to live in freedom and· in peace with each other. The agenda before you deals with issues of freedom, peace, progress and prosperity. I humbly beseech God to bestow upon us the wisdom, the understanding and the tolerance which would. enable us so to order our work and shape our decisions that they might serve to abolish mankind's ancient fears, to assuage its hurts and to forward the fulfilment of its eternal hopes. Amen. [The speaker continued in Arabic. / Our final prayer is: the worthiness of perfect praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the world. AGENDA ITEM 20 Admission of new Members to the United Notions 18. The PRESIDENT: With the permission of the General Assembly, 1 now propose to put before it item 20 of our provisional agenda entitled "Admission of new Members to the United Nations". The special procedure for dealing with this matter, prior to the adoption of the agenda, has been used on earlier occasions in order to give the newly independent States, which have requested membership of our Or- ganization, the opportunity to participate from the outset in the work of the present session. The General Assembly has before it a number of draft resolutions recommending the admission of new Members. The Security Council in each case has. unanimously recom- mended positive action to be taken by the Assembly. I therefore take it that the Assembl. y may also wish to be given the opportunity to receive each of these new Members, one by one, by acclamation.