Your Excellency Kim Il Sung, President of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:

I consider it my first happy duty to thank Your Excellency personally and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to me, my wife and my delegation. I am particularly pleased to express our gratitude for the very special arrangements made by Your Excellency and Your Government for us to visit this beautiful country.

I bring with me the sincere greetings of my people to Your Excellency and the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, I wish to pay my respectful tribute to Your Excellency for the remarkable manner in which you have discharged your onerous responsibilities as the Great National Leader of this country for over half a century. The people of the Maldives have utmost admiration for your leadership and your invaluable services to your nation.

It is with keen interest that we have been following the developmental efforts in Korea and the remarkable progress of the Korean people under your wise leadership. We are fully aware of the numerous difficulties you have encountered, but these difficulties have not prevented the people of Korea from successfully pursuing their political, economic and social objectives.

We commend the Juche Idea created by Your Excellency which has inspired the Korean people towards the admirable achievements which your people enjoy today.

Your Excellency:

The Maldives and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are situated geographically fairly far from each other, but our common approach to international affairs and the similarity in our foreign policies have brought us very much closer in our relations. We share the same concern and dismay over the failure, so far, of the world community to eliminate the causes of tension in many parts of the world which threaten international peace and security.

Back home in the Maldives, my Government uses its limited resources to disseminate as much information as we possibly could about the developments in this part of the world. We are aware of the unfortunate series of events which had led to the division of this land. We have witnessed with great sympathy the difficulties and pain being suffered by the people of Korea due to a political division of their land which is unjustified and unnatural.

The Maldives has always supported the national integrity of the Korean people and we will continue to back every effort made towards the realization of the wishes of the Korean people for the peaceful and independent reunification of their soil. We believe it imperative that all opportunities are given to the people of Korea to determine their own national destiny by themselves through dialogue and by means of their independent choice without outside interference or intervention. Knowing the determination of the Korean people and the wisdom of their leadership, we are sure that the Korean issue will be solved in a peaceful and honourable manner that fulfils the aspirations of the Korean people for unity and progress.

Your Excellency:

The Maldives and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea share the important international forum of the Non-Aligned Movement. Both our countries remain committed to uphold and respect the basic tenets of non-aligned policy. We believe in peaceful co-existence based on mutual respect, non interference in the internal affairs of any country and settlement of all disputes by peaceful means. Both our countries try to utilise every opportunity we get to contribute in every way we could to prevent the escalating threats to world peace and remedy the fast deteriorating international situation.

It is a matter of profound satisfaction for me to see our two countries subscribing fully to these objectives. We support all legitimate freedom movements all over the globe. We also join the call for the establishment of nuclear-free and peace-zones in different regions of the world. We in the Maldives are particularly dismayed that the Indian Ocean is fast becoming a hotbed for great power rivalry. In New Delhi the Non-Aligned Countries issued a collective call, one of many such calls, for the speedy implementation of the United Nations resolution declaring the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. We express our hope once again that the proposed Colombo Conference on the Indian Ocean will soon be convened.

Your Excellency:

The Maldives extends unqualified support to the cause of the Palestinian people. We believe that a just and lasting peace will not be possible in the Middle East, unless and until the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are restored to them, including their right to return honourably to their own land, and have complete freedom to decide their own destiny. This cannot be achieved without the unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Palestinian and other Arab territories which they have been occupying since 1967. The Israeli aggression on Lebanon has introduced new dangers to the already explosive situation in the Middle East. The Israelis should withdraw from Lebanon forthwith and bring to an end the agony of that beleaguered nation in order that peace may prevail in this sensitive region.

We express our solidarity with the oppressed people of South Africa and the people of Namibia who are suffering under the yoke of the racist regime in Pretoria. We, all peace-loving nations, share the deepest concern over the persistent refusal of the Pretoria regime to hand-over the question of Namibia in totality to the United Nations. We consider its occupation of Namibia illegal and inhuman just as much as its policy of apartheid in South Africa itself.

We abhor racism and all forms of racial discrimination and we oppose all forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism and power-block rivalries which impede the achievement of peace and stability in the world.

On the international economic scene, the Maldives together with other countries of the world have been sparing no efforts towards the establishment of a New International Economic Order that would ensure a more equitable redistribution of the world’s productive resources for the betterment of mankind.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen:

In conclusion, permit me to say a few words on the beauty that nature has bestowed upon your country, “The golden land of morning calm”. It does not surprise me that the people of Korea, having been blessed with such beauty and serenity, dream of a land of peace and harmony rather than a land of war and division. On our part we fully subscribe to this genuine aspiration of the people of Korea and shall avail ourselves of every opportunity to support their just and noble objective of a peaceful and lasting re-unification. We hope and pray that this great national objective be achieved in the not too distant a future.

With this prayer, Ladies and Gentlemen, I request you to join me in a toast:

To the long life in good health and happiness of the Great Leader His Excellency President Kim Il Sung,

To the long life in good health and happiness of His Excellency Dear Leader Kim Jong Il,

To an early realisation of the desire of the people of Korea for a peaceful re-unification of their land, and

To everlasting friendship and co-operation between our two governments and peoples.