Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace

Abstract

The question of establishing a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean, although not a new idea, was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly for the first time in 1971, under an item entitled “Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace”, at the request of Sri Lanka and, later, the United Republic of Tanzania. The General Assembly that year adopted resolution 2832 (XXVI) in which it solemnly declared that the Indian Ocean, within limits to be determined, together with the air space above and the ocean floor subjacent thereto, was designated for all time as a zone of peace. In conformity with the Declaration, the Assembly called upon the great Powers to enter into consultations with the littoral States of the Indian Ocean with a view to halting the further expansion of their military presence in the Indian Ocean and eliminating from the area all bases, military installations and logistical supply facilities, nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction and any manifestation of great-Power military presence conceived in the context of great-Power rivalry. It also called upon the littoral and hinterland States of the Indian Ocean, the permanent members of the Security Council and other major maritime users of the Indian Ocean, with the objective of establishing a system of universal collective security through regional and other co-operation, to enter into consultations with a view to the implementation of the Declaration and taking of necessary action to ensure that: (a) warships and military aircraft might not use the Indian Ocean for any threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of any littoral and hinterland State of the Indian Ocean in contravention of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; (b) subject to the foregoing and to the norms and principles of international law, the right to free and unimpeded use of the zone by the vessels of all nations was unaffected; and (c) appropriate arrangements were made to give effect to any international agreement that might ultimately be reached for the maintenance of the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace.