China, India, Russia headline UN assembly debate

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - China and Russia appeared back-to-back on Saturday in the continuing marathon speeches at the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly.

India took its neighboring relationship as a top priority. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) saw peaceful environment vital for its economic development.

HISTORY, TRUTH CAN NOT BE DISTORTED: CHINA

China welcomes the inclusion of "the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War" on the agenda of the current session of the UN General Assembly, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. "This presents an important opportunity for us."

This year marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, and next year will be the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"Looking back on what happened 70 years ago, the historical facts are perfectly clear, and a final verdict has already been pronounced on what was right and what was wrong," he said. "History is not to be falsified, and truth is not to be distorted."

"In China alone, the (WWII) aggression committed by Japanese militarists left more than 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians dead or injured," he said.

"Let us jointly uphold human justice and conscience so that those who attempt to deny aggression and distort history will have nowhere to hide and achieve nothing," he said.

Wang said "We should treat each other as equals. The principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld."

On terrorism, he said the international community should "focus on combating religious extremism and cyber terrorism, resolutely eliminate the roots and block channels of spreading terrorism and extremism and crack down hard and effectively on the use of the Internet and other new means of communication by terrorists to instigate, recruit, finance or plot terrorist attacks."

WESTERN ALLIANCE VIOLATES DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLE: RUSSIA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed U.S.-led Western alliance and their military interference, democracy spreading and unilateral action.

The so called "champion of democracy" actually is acting in the direct opposite direction, rejecting the democratic principle of state sovereignty equality, he said.

"Washington has openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests," Lavrov said. "Military interference has become a norm, even despite the dismal outcome of all power operations that the U.S. has carried out over the recent years."

"The sustainability of the international system has been severely shaken by NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia, intervention in Iraq, attack against Libya and the failure of operations in Afghanistan," Lavrov said. "Only due to intensive diplomatic efforts the aggression against Syria was prevented in 2013."

"Ukraine has fallen victim to such an arrogant policy," he said. "After they (the West) declared victory in the Cold War and the 'end of history,' the United States and EU have opted for expanding the geopolitical area under their control without taking into account the balance of legitimate interests of all peoples of Europe."

NEIGHBORING RELATIONSHIP TOP PRIORITY: INDIA

Newly-elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said maintaining good relationship with India's neighboring countries is top priority of his government.

"A nation's destiny is linked to its neighborhood," he said. "I am prepared to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in a peaceful atmosphere, without the shadow of terrorism, to promote our friendship and cooperation."

"However, Pakistan must also take its responsibility seriously to create an appropriate environment," he said. "India desired a peaceful and stable environment for its development."

He said there was a surge of democracy in the region, noting Afghanistan is at a historic moment of democratic transition and affirmation of unity, Nepal had moved from violence to peace and democracy and Bhutan's young democracy was flourishing.

"No country or group of countries can determine the course of this world. There has to be a genuine international partnership," he said.

Modi said there was a need to change people's lifestyles to create a more habitable and sustainable world.

PEACEFUL ENVIRONMENT MORE PRECIOUS: DPRK

Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said "We have firmly safeguarded national dignity, effectively deterred war and put stagnant economy onto an upward track."

"A peaceful environment is a vital necessity for us to lead the just picked-up upward trend of the national economy to a sustainable development. Peaceful environment and reduction of tensions are ever more precious to us now than at any time," he said.

He blamed the United States-South Korea joint military exercises for triggering "the situation of touch-and-go brink of war on the Peninsula last year."