FOISON GAS danger of n By SVYATOSLAV KOZLOV UNITED NATIONS (APN) — An important prop- Osal was made to the 36th General Assembly of the United Nations by Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko in a major speech, Sept. 22. _ The General Assembly, he said, should adopt a decla- Tation solemnly proclaiming that states and statesmen who. are first to use nuclear weapons would commit a very grave crime against mankind. No task is more urgent and pressing today than that of reducing tension in the world, to curb the arms race and Temove the threat of war. .. The paramount task must be efforts to avert a thermo-nuclear war that spells an unheard-of calamity for the world. So there are no and cannot be any grounds | OFreasons, circumstances or situations entitling states to _ be first to use nuclear weapons, that is to start a nuclear Shambles. : . “It would be a crime against all nations, against the very existence of life on earth,”’ said the Soviet minister. ~ “Such a declaration as proposed, would be a stern warning to statesmen who may allow such a criminal them who, contrary to reason and a sense of responsibil- _ ity to the present and the succeeding generations will take such a monstrous step, will never be justified or foregiven. , : “We also propose that the declaration should say with | all authority that doctrines admitting first use of nuclear _ Weapons are incompatable with the laws of human | ™orality and the noble ideas of the United Nations,” Said the minister. ; ; “It is, however, well known that such man-hating doctrines and even working plans for a nuclear war have been drawn up in the Pentagon and NATO head- quarters. These centres of military folly are concerned Not to save mankind from the terrible threat but to find Ways of unleashing a world holocaust, by lowering the threshold of nuclear danger: ome “They openly say that they will not desist from the | Possibilities of using nuclear weapons first when they - feel it is useful for their designs. An | ‘‘Nuclear mania tries to deceive mankind by claiming ‘| that nuclear war need not be feared too much, that it is _4menable and acceptable, that it can be limited ... “All these statements are designed to mislead the People, to paralyze their will to struggle against the nu- clear : nuclear build-up is in reply to the imaginary Soviet threat. ! : _ | Ruclear threat to the planet, who was first to use nuclear _ Weapons, and who started the mad arms race, with the illusory aim of achieving absolute military supremacy ‘The U.S. militarists are terrorizing and blackmailing | all peoples, including those of their own allies, with the | Ruclear threat. | “The NATO countries have turned down the Soviet Proposals for mutual renunciation of the first use of decision to be taken. They must realize that those of - are statements. by..U.S. and. |. -~ _“Ttis known to everyone in the world, whocreated the | _ | And upsetting the existing strategic equilibrium in the — | world. Soviet foreign minister at UN Gromyko urges ‘eliminate uclear war’ nuclear and conventional weapons, thus demonstrating who is the source of the danger of nuclear war. ‘‘Washington poses as an advocate of nuclear non- proliferation, but its entire military policy of the nuclear arms race only promotes their spread and growth of the the threat.”’ The declaration proposed by the Soviet Union is ex- pected to emphasize that the nuclear arms race should be stopped and removed by joint efforts through honest negotiations on an equal footing. It is essential that this collective act of the inter- national community should make it clear, especially to heads.of states possessing nuclear weapons, that their supreme duty is to eliminate completely the danger of the outbreak of a nuclear conflict, Gromyko urged. ‘To save the world from the disaster of nuclear an- nihilation, to give an impulse to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to complete nuclear disarmament, this is the essence of the political document which the Soviet Union offers the world community. This act of goodwill may become a major milestone on the way to total abolition of the threat of a nuclear war. ‘‘No country should stand aloof from the solution of that problem,’’ Gromyko stressed. —asissniit, Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko . .. proposed de- claration against first nuclear strike use at the UN general assembly. — “No nuclear War winners’ -Canadian- Soviet meet Settee a 2 —i °° —— declares TORON TO — Calling for “‘new, creative concepts of international understanding”’ to ensure humanity's sur- vival, a group of prominent scholars from the Soviet Union and Canada, at a Symposium on Peace and Jnderstanding here, recommended increased ex- .Changes between the two systems, and working toward concrete disarmament agreements. Following their September 19-20 gathering the par- ticipants agreed on a declaration whose first point is: “Nuclear technology makes war obsolete. Survival of the human race depends on a total shift in thinking about nations as friends or enemies. Joint Declaration Pursuing this concept, the declaration explains: “This new awareness of ourselves as interdependent members of an international community demands a total change in our concept of security. *‘The only real enemy, or threat to security,”’ it main- tains, ‘is continued reliance on confrontation instead of negotiation. There are no winners in a nuclear war.” The Symposium, of leading authorities, and a wide range of concerned persons, was sponsored jointly by: Committee on Peace and Understanding; Canadian In- stitute of International Affairs; Canada-USSR Associa- tion; and USSR-Canada Society (the latter located in the USSR). Soviet Participants Soviet participants were: Ivan Farisov, Dean of the Institute of Asian and African Studies; Valery Schibisenkov, secretary-general, USSR-Canada Socie- ty; Valery Tischkov, historian (author of three books on . Canada) historical branch of USSR Academy of Sci- ences; and A. Kashtanov, from the USSR Consulate in Canada. ‘*Time is running out,”’ they and their Canadian coun- terparts agreed. ‘‘New, creative concepts of inter- national understanding must replace outmoded, in- flexible perceptions. The urgent goals of peace and the survival of humanity are too important to permit any symposium on the subjects to conclude without con- sidering practical recommendations for study and ac- tion.” = Canadian Participants : The leading participants from Canada were: Dr. Nor- man Alcock, nuclear physicist, former director, Cana- dian Peace Research; Dr. Margaret Fulton, Presi- dent, Mount Vincent University; Walter - Gordon, economist, businessman and former cabinet minister; Dr. Franklyn Griffiths; Dr. George Ignatiev, chancellor, _ University of Toronto; Dr. Eoin Mackay, Canadian council of Churches; Stephanie McCandles, Reford-McCandles International Consultants, director, Meeting the World; and Dr. Murray Thomson, Project Ploughshares. Urgent Recommendations While discussion ranged over many areas, the six recommendations of the symposium were quite brief and considered urgent: _ e That continuing efforts be made to extend the _ dialogue reflected by this symposium. e That scientific and cultural exchanges between our two countries be renewed and enlarged — exchanges which foster open discussion of the real differences which separate us, as well as the values we hold in common. a e We encourage steps toward more favorable economic and trade relations between our two countries. e We encourage middle-power initiatives on the part of Canada which may lead to concrete disarmament agreements. e We endorse giving a high priority to incorporating -the urgent survival issues which face mankind into the learning systems which exist today. e Finally, the symposium considers it highly desirable to continue and increase professional and vocational world-wide contacts and efforts designed to mobilize | public opinion for disarmament. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCT. 2, 1981—Page 7