It is our earnest hope that the great powers would respect the wishes of the littoral States of the Indian Ocean area and desist from actions resulting in escalation of tensions which go against the decisions of the international community to make the Indian Ocean into a zone of peace. We hope all non-aligned countries will continue their efforts, both in the United Nations and elsewhere, in our common endeavour to seewre the full implementation of the objectives of the United Nations Declaration.
Here, we must place on record our admiration for the valiant efforts of the peoples of Latin America, a vast and rich area, to give more concrete meaning to the political independence which they have enjoyed already for many years. Their continuing efforts to secure full sovereignty over their national resources deserve our full support. We note that more and more countries in Latin America are adhering to the principles of non-alignment. We welcome this trend and look forward to greater co-operation with them and further accretion to our strength.
Economic Situation
The world economic situation is far from satisfactory. Indeed, it is on the verge of a crisis of global proportions, which can be averted only through the common endeavour of all nations. What are the principal characteristics of the present situation?
On the surface we see that peoples everywhere are being subjected to uncontrollable increases in prices, to shortages of essential goods, to deficit trade balances, to unemployment and recession.
This global phenomenon has been caused mainly by the policies of the developed countries, by their mass production technology, by their prodigal consumption standards, by their growth mania, by their diversion of resources towards a meaningless arms race, and by the rapid depletion of the world's non-renewable raw materials. In the result we have more and more missiles, hair-dryers and tape-recorders, and less and less food-grains, fertilizers and essential goods.
