Peace, stability and co-operation in South-East Asia discussed by assembly.

Peace, stability and co-operation in South-East Asia discussed by Assembly

The question of peace, stability and co-operation in South-East Asia, an item first put on the agenda in 1980, was discussed by the General Assembly on 6 November 1985. As in previous years, no resolution was tabled. Eighteen countries participated in the debate. The Assembly, without a vote, decided that the item would be considered again in 1986.

Debate: Five countries from South-East Asia participating in the debate were Democratic Kampuchea, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

The Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam stressed that all countries in South-East Asia wanted to make the region a zone of peace, stability and co-operation. A practical basis for talks between the States of Indo-China--Viet Nam, Laos and the People's Republic of Kampuchea--and ASEAN (Association of South-East Nations) countries was provided by the 1971 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN Declaration concerning a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality in the region; the principles of the 1976 Bali ASEAN summit declaration; the principles put forth by the States of Indo-China in 1981; and the Final Declaration of the 1983 New Delhi non-aligned summit.

The two countries maintained that several common denominators had emerged that could serve as the basis for a political solution in South-East Asia: the withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Kampuchea without permitting the return of the "Pol Pot genocidal clique"; national reconciliation among the various Khmer factions on the basis of the "elimination of the Pol Pot clique"; organization by Kampucheans of free general elections with the presence of foreign observers; the building in South-East Asia of a zone of peace and stability; cessation of all foreign interference in the affairs of regional countries; and an international guarantee of the agreements concluded.

Laos and Viet Nam also referred to the talks between the United States and Viet Nam on the question of American soldiers who had disappeared during the Viet Nam war and on other questions of common concern. The talks would help facilitate the restoration of peace and stability in South-East Asia, they indicated.

Laos said the States of Indo-China were prepared to sign, separately or together, with Thailand a treaty based on mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's domestic affairs, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of...