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Assembly Debates
Assembly Debates
PARLIAMENT OF PAKISTAN
(JOINT SITTINC)
Thusttay, the sah September, 1974
The Houses of Parliament of l'akistalr met, in Joint Sitting, in the Assembjy
Chamber (State Bank Building). Islamabad, at fifty live minutes past five of the
clock, in the evening, Mr. Speaker (Sahibzada Farooq Ali) in the Chair.
Recitation from the Holy Qurlan
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
full of the
Madam hime Minister, you have stood by us during our difficult davs and
for which we are deeply gateful to you.
Madam Prime Minister, you are privileged to lead a nation\vhich has solid
traditions of religious and moral values. IJnder your dynamic leadership, Sri
Lanka has made its presence felt iu world counsels and created a place for itself
in the comity of nations.
You have steered your country aBd people out of many crisis and have
given your pople a new orientation in all the walks of life through a democratic
process and laid the foundations of a peaceful and orderlv political evolution.
for social and economic well-being of our people under a dcmocratic system
involving total participation of the people. We arc brcaking the shackles of
exploitation and have set our course towards the chcrished goal of economic
and social justice.
PARLIAMENT OF PAKISTAN
[5rx serr.,
1974
Your Excellency, I believe Sri Lanka and I'akistan hxvc many things in
common. We have workcd together in close cooperaaion in the past. I have
every hope that in future also our coopration wilt grow in all fields and both
the countries will benefit from this mutual cooperatron. Your visit and stay
in our country will go a lnng way in stlengthclirg our relations and increasing
cooperation between them.
Madam Prime Minister, through you, mily
oI
the
of Pak;stan to ihe people of Sti Lanka. In .he end let mc again express
nty deep gratitude 10 )'ou for finding tjne to address the members of Parliamcnt
people
of
PakistaD.
Lanka, our honoured g e6t, 10 addrsss this sessioI} of Pantiamnt. It is. Dost
befitting that Head of Government of a frieDdly country should be the first
foreign leader to perform this distinctiye function since we adopted our prmanent
Constitution more than e year aCo. I an saying this not oDly out of cordialily
o[ sentiment but also because of certain objective considerations. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have chosen democracy as their way of life; both have
modelled their polirical system on the parliamenlary pattern, though in our case
it was unhappily displaced, for a decade and a half; both are wedded to the
rule_ of law: bot[ beJie,ve tbat democrnay qr]nDot be stabili&d qrlla it is
iortified by institutions: both ara engagd in rhe slrugJe to enJarge and
consolidale the frecdom ojoyed by the common maIL
Democracy, as we know, requires an environmant of peace; trot to speak
of' tbc dbvoftopirg countries a,nd the third wodd, evcn the-riature saciery of the
afruent world can fall a prey to fission and to disrulion ol their institutions
undgr the pr{ssure of international friction and war. IL is qr undedaD}e lact
that both Sri Lalka and. Pakistan are co@Eit{ed to iorernatjonal. peace aod
security and to lhe rjghl6 of sorall SJates to live in frFedom froln fe5.
Of Course all Sta{es cao claim to. be peoe-loving. but lba claim is valid, ody
for States which encourage, spe.ific saulment of disputc on tlc basis. at juticg,
and work actively to removc the shadow of the nuclear threat which darkens
Eankiod's har.lzan, Both Staros abundaltly fulfil this. criteria. This lBnls rcality
to the independencE of our. furar8rt peligrr with tro tk)rrgh& ot a$lendirom.nt i,t
cur mind and no intent to usurf thq rjghts of otlrcrs. Wq feel we have rnorc
stnongith to app[cach each interndtional issue on it,, mcrils.
session
Assembly.
T,-\NKA
I ralue tlris opportunity because I would like to toql you, and thrdfrih
yfi, I hope to a widdr audlence throughout Pakis:3n, sornethihg of our hopes
and aspirations, altd the experience of my Government, since it came into
powr,
in
My owh Govcr-nment came into power in 1970 lrccause lhe pcople of Sri
Lenk8, I should like to say, for the first time since she rcgainr\i independence
fiom co{onial rulo in February 1948. voied for teal ch;r,rge. Ioi change dh
issues ot which they themselves had laksn the jnitiative and shown leadership.
Ia teqpohse to ttrcir wishes, I fornred a Unirid F-ron1 consisting ot 6y dvir
Party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Lanka Sarna Samaja Party ahd
the Communist Parl.y. and upon the Lasis of a common progrxnlrnc drawn up
id M68, fought the General Elections in 1970. Ihe oulcome o[ that Electjon
is how recorded history: the United Front defea'ed the ruling Unilcd National
Hfly aild oblained lt5 seats in a t,egislative Asserrrirly conrjisting of 157
Meffbers. That is a record for a democratic election in reccni tinres of rvhich
a\y political pady can bs justly proud. Yet, I should like to s1)-, tha.: thc
sitltiflcance of that result lay noi so much, or Derhrp" es much, in the failure
of the tJ ited National Pafty to command support frorr the 3lectorate to form
evcn an effective Opposition, but rather in the lact tr)at the l.jnjted Front
scculed a {"\yd-thirds majority in the National S(a1e Assombly.
The demohstration of such support for the United Front deri..,ing, as it
dld, from wideiy scattered electorates throughout the country, was a mandate
td nly Government tJ implement the common prcEranirle upon whic,h we
went to the polls. My Government can only servive as long as ve hold thc
conftdence of the men and woriren who voied and put us iir(o powcr and u,ho
are, in the last analysis, the ultimate politicat suvireign. So I am happy to
ba able to say thdt we have used their sacred trust in us Lo inrplemcn: their
wishes and to bring about through a legislative progralnne both fundamental
and structural changes in the social and econornic lilc of Sri t-anka. These
chantes have done AE6y sith the liniittltion od hot soygrdistt{v and aie a
beark with her colonial past. They will no doubt he!-e far-reaching consequences
for her gre{ter good and her future l?U.belng.
PARLIAMENT OF PAKISTAN
to break away from the shackles of our colonial past, of what changes we have
wrought in the transformation of our social, economic and administratiye structure
in order to enable our people to live in human dignity as free men.
and
Shce I have dealt with at some length about our hopes and aspirations, I feel I
should also tell you something about their relevance to the foreigo policy of Sri
Lanka and why my Covernment thinks it necessary to pursue that policy. For
foreign policy cannot b created in a vaccunl: it must grow out of our national
aspirations and patterns of events in our environment, and it must need to take
ac.ount of the eyolviug relationships of the Great Powers and their increasing
I
I
If we put our minds back to about 25 years we see that in the vast area
from what was then the Indian Sub{ontinent to the further shores of the South
West Pacific, an area containing more than a quarter of the world's populalion,
all but 2 countries were under colonial domination. Yet 25 years later a change
of quite revolutionary dimension had taken place, for the unconquerable will
to be free had seized the peoples of these areas aDd led lhem to regain their
independence and establish onc more their national identity. The will never-tolose that indelrndence and identity is still the most powerful force today in
our region or, for that matter, in all regions where nations have regained their
losb freedom and independenc. That too is the motivating impulse upon which
is based our foreign policy, whose pursuit we combine wjth the wider needs of
the intrnational community. That is why rny Goverument has as its declared
objective the desire to maintain the nrost cordial and lriendly relations with all
States without regard to their size, their power and their ideology; to oppose
imperialism and colonialism in all its forms and manifestations; and racialism
old and new alike; to express solidarity and give support to all struggles for
national liberatioo agairst imperialism and colonialism; to subscribe to the
principles ag.reed at the Conference at Bandung in 1954, at Belgrade in 1961,
at Cairo in 1964, at Lusaka in 1970 and at Algiers in 1973 I and to pursue a
policy of tron-aligunent in our relations with Foreign Stales. This foreign policy
of ours is based upon the vieE, that no Government or social system is so evil
that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue pre\enting any country
to live together with it in mutual toleran@, submitting their difterences, where
thes exist, to a just and peaceful settlement.
I would lite to explain to you our policy of non-alignment at some length.
would like to do so because I feel that at no lrme in recent years has its relevance and validity been so vividly manifest as it is today-in all its urgent
reality. The rationale of our policy of non-aligoment is non-involvement in
Eilitsry elisncos or Power blocks, for involvement results in polarising nations
into opposing camps who base their relations with each other on a footing ot
political or military c.mpetition. That could lead 1(r tensions, and in turn to
coDft@tati@ snd evcntual coDflict on a global scale-a situation which is unthinkable, where the whole world could well be blown up darkly into oblivion by
the refinsme[t of destructive weapons that alions possess today. Non.align@t thqrforc cojoios thst the only positive, rational and civilised basis for the
resoluiiol of dispuies between natrclis is not b) rescrt to war but rather by
peaceful discussion. And the corollary to such a peaceful approach is the steady
pursuit of global disarmament and the eventual renunciation of rvar as a method
of resolving international disputes. As we see it, it is the one policy that car
ensurc a climate of peace upon which social and economic growth can be envisacd. It is the one policy that is an investment for the preservation of world
I
peace.
pARLIAtr,TENT
oF
pAKrsrAN
should be secured for lawful commercial end otbr peaceful uses atrd p{tsuih.
am happy 10 say that the proposal has since made good progress, rod th.t
at the 27th Session oI the United Natious General Assembly Session in 1972
tn ad hoc Committee was appointed to examihe the proF)sal ahd wort out
measures
Our relations with all the countries in our regi(m have becn mst gorditl.
fricndly and good-ncighboudy. I am happy to be able to say that our rolations
with Pakistan have been equally excellent. Our fundamental interests itr thi8
doy and agc coincidc very closely: if the tradc between our twD @urttries siIlEE
we attained indepcndence has been littte, it hes neyErthelcss becn consistEntly
goo'd. During the last few years however there has bcen a sub,stantial increase
in lhe volume of that trade and I am happy to note ihcreBsing cultural &nd
other contacts. As neighbours and trBding partncrs we share a high dcgreir
of inter-depcndence, and consequentially, a comon interest in seeing that ouf
rcgion does not become an area for competition and confrontation by the Creat
and Super Powers, for such confrontation can only be destructive and countsr.
productive of the well-being of our region, so populous aod yet so deprivcd
and poor. Above all, I think we have deep and endurlflg interest ln the preservation of peace-an investment in the peace of our region and the peacc of the
world in our time. I assure you, hollourable Centlemen, that my.Govemmeht
will do all it caD to promote and enlarge this great and abiding community df
intercst bctween our two countries.
(Applause)
Today we are living in a world where we are all interdepndent. The tcvotution in communications has not only s@ed up thr flow of ideas but has
also sharpened thc impact of any eveot or occuretrce happcring dne countly
on practically the entire internatid.al community. In the leisurely days of a
by.gbne age'one had perhaps only to be careful of the spread of dlsease from
onJ country to aDother, but in the inter-depeDdent world of today almost aflything spreads Iike disease. Thereforc, we speak of imported inflation, of irstabi-in our om currencies as a result of general international monetary instabllity
litv and the serious consequenc.es on vital matters such as our trade, commerca
and shipping by incidents- happening thousands of mites away from our o*'tt
boundaries-for example, the closure of the Suez Canel. Such examples can be
multiplied. But the lcssons that they tcrch us haY! to b learDed howeYer difr.
cult lhis may be, for there is no altemative, and the most important of such
lcssoos is the very urgent ad reol nccd for countries to work together. Peftaps'
this could be bctter attempted in the first instance on a regional basis. Perhaps,
it would bc quite appropriate and timely to work towards, in the fust instancc,
an Asian identity, an identity which could be based, as far as most of our countries in the region are concerncd, on similar historical expriences; similar experienccs of social and economic problems and very great cultural afrnities.
(Applause)
(Applause)
Mr. Speeler: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, and thank you
very much the hon'ble Members.
The Joint Session is prorogued.
The Joint Sitting of Parliament was prorogued.
POPPI-1136/N.A,/13-9:t 6-400