59
The representative of the Soviet Union denounced the Western Powers for rejecting the Soviet proposals on reduction of armaments and prohibition of the atomic weapon. The Anglo-American bloc and the parties to the " North Atlantic aggressive alliance " were bent solely on vetoing any decision on the reduction of armaments and the prohibition of atomic weapons, hoping at the same time to collect information on the armaments and armed forces of other States and, above all, of the Soviet Union, the country against which the " aggressive alliances centred around the United States " were directed. The Soviet representative maintained that the principal objective of the AngloAmerican bloc was to obtain full information from other States regarding existing conventional armaments and armed forces, while concealing data on atomic weapons. Surely, however, the atomic weapon had not ceased to be a military weapon ? Full information therefore must include a census of atomic weapons, for the two questions could not be divided but must be taken together. Eventually the Committee rejected the Soviet draft resolution by 6 to 30 with 14 abstentions and adopted the French-Norwegian resolution by 42 (N.Z.) to 5 with 5 abstentions. The Committee decided also that the present title of the item should be retained, but that a new title should be given to the resolution to be transmitted to the General Assembly—namely, " Regulation and Reduction of Conventional Armaments and Armed Forces." The Assembly adopted this resolution by 44 (N.Z.) to 5 with 5 abstentions, rejecting the Soviet proposal by 6 to 39 (N.Z.) with 9 abstentions. The operative part of the resolution adopted is as follows : " Regulation and Reduction of Conventional Armaments and Armed Forces " The General Assembly "1. Approves the proposals formulated by the Commission for Conventional Armaments for the submission by member States of full information on their conventional armaments and armed forces and the verification thereof, as constituting the necessary basis for the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendation : "2. Considers that the early submission of this information would constitute an essential step towards a substantial reduction of conventional armaments and armed forces and that, on the other hand, no agreement is likely to be reached on this matter so long as each State lacks exact and authenticated information concerning the conventional armaments and armed forces of other States ; " 3. Notes that unanimity among the permanent members of the Security Council, which is essential for the implementation of the above-mentioned proposals, has not yet been achieved :
Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.
By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.
Your session has expired.