Heads of state or government - addresses at the opening of the thirty-ninth General Assembly of the United Nations

UN Chronicle, August, 1984

The resources of the sea-bed must be developed for the benefit of all mankind. Suriname, as a member of the Preparatory Commission for the International Sea-Bed Authority, regrets that positive work in that area is being hampered by some major industrialized countries, which are preparing bilateral or multilateral agreements outside the scope of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Suriname rejects any separate agreements whereby the industrialized States would share the sea-bed among themselves.

Similarly, Suriname supports the exploration and exploitation of Antarctica and its resources for the benefit of all peoples. It urges a new regime for that continent embodying those principles.

Despite pleas by a majority of States for general and complete disarmament, there is a steady increase in global military spending. All parties concerned should negotiate arms reduction as a matter of urgency.

Suriname denounces any linkage between Namibian independence and extraneous issues, and rejects South Africa's "mystifying" new constitution and the "sham elections" connected with it.

Withdrawal of foreign troops is a precondition for peaceful solution of the situations in the Middle East, Kampuchea and Afghanistan. Suriname commends the Secretary-General's peace initiatives in the Iran-Iraq war.

Ronald Reagan, President of the United States: "We are ready for constructive negotiations with the Soviet Union. We recognize that there is no sane alternative to negotiation on arms control and other issues between our two nations, which have the capacity to destroy civilization as we know it."

Three objectives which could provide an agenda for such discussions would be: (1) finding ways to reduce and eliminate the treat and use of force to solve international disputes, for example, by agreeing to hold periodic consultations at policy level about regional problems, with senior experts available at regular intervals for in-depth exchanges of views; (2) reducing the vast stockpiles of armaments in the world, including nuclear weapons, through redoubled negotiation efforts in Geneva and Vienna; and (3) establishing a better working relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States, marked by greater co-operation and understanding. In that regard, the two countries have already reached agreements to improve the "hotline", extend the 10-year economic agreement, enhance consular co-operation and explore coordination, of search and rescue efforts at sea.

"We need to extend the arms control process, to build a bigger umbrella under which it can operate--a roadmap if you will--showing where, during the next 20 years or so, these individual efforts can lead."

The United States will suggest to the Soviet Union holding regular ministerial or cabinet-level meetings between the two countries on all issues, including the problem of needless obstacles to understanding. The exchange of outlines of five-year military plans for weapons development and schedules of intended procurement could be considered. The exchange of observers at military exercises and locations would be welcomed, as would a way for experts from either side to visit the other's nuclear test sites, to measure directly the yields of nuclear-weapons tests.