The Asia Pacific is a shared home where regional countries live and thrive. A sustained prosperity and stability in our region hinges on sound security and development environment. This is something that has not come easily. And regional countries have done so much to have made it possible. On the other hand, we should not ignore that the Asia Pacific faces unprecedented security challenges.

We have been keeping the peace in the Asia-Pacific theater for decades now, and the essence of the rebalance is to keep that peace and stability going, of which we have been a pivotal part. You ask about India, yes it is difficult. We are two technical and military cultures that grew up on opposite sides of the fence during the Cold War.

By the year 2000 we should be able to say that we have learned to live securely, in peace and mutual prosperity among our Asian and Pacific neighbours. We will not be cut off from our British and European cultures and traditions or from those economies. On the contrary, the more engaged we are economically and politically with the region around us, the more value and relevance we bring to those old relationships. Far from putting our identity at risk, our relationships with the region will energise it.

They (Indo-Fijians) have been part of our lives and they are the very ones who made us what we are today, and I urge you to consider their plight and assist them in whatever way possible.

Our dreams are linked. People of different countries are pursuing their own Shangri-La, just like the Chinese people. Long and arduous as our journey may be, we will get to the destination as long as we take concrete steps. Let us work hand in hand to build an Asia Pacific community of shared future, promote stability, prosperity and development in our region, and make the Asia Pacific a better place.

I know that some people in Europe have mixed feelings about the dynamic economic development under way in the Asia-Pacific region, and the increasing attention which the United States is giving to it. But we should not think of the Atlantic versus the Pacific or Europe against Asia. Dynamic development of this region will benefit the entire free world. My dream is that of a strong Europe and a developing Asia-Pacific, linked together in mutual prosperity and working together for the common good of all peoples. ... I believe that Japanese efforts to promote our friendly relations with China can help to improve the climate for world peace and stability.

...when we became independent and Nehru spelt out his vision, we appeared to be the leader, we are the only country which articulated the aspirations of Asia as a whole for the first time. Then other countries, small countries, big countries have come up asserting themselves, and, but still we are, because of our economic development, everybody knows that India is geographically a big central chunk of Asia and that it is an expanding economy. It is a technologically progressing society and in every field it is making a mark. And everybody recognises this role of India, but I think we have to articulate our position in Asia, in a new way, in a new set of circumstances that would appeal to everybody.

The Korean Peninsula is located at the heart of the region. It is a big bridge linking China and Japan, the continent and the ocean. Such a geopolitical characteristic often caused pain for us in the past. Today, however, this same feature is offering us an opportunity. Indeed, it demands that we play a pivotal role in the age of Northeast Asia in the 21st Century.

I believe the lion’s share of the history of the 21st century is going to play out in the Asian Pacific region not the US.

The South Pacific is not a paradise, in the sense that Eden wasn't either. There are always apples and snakes. But it is a wonderful place to live. The green vales of Tahiti, the hills of Guadalcanal, the towering peaks about Wau, and the noonday brilliance of Rabaul have enchanted many white travelers who have stayed on for many years and built happy lives. Often on a cool night when the beer was plentiful and the stories alluring, we have envied the men and women of the South Pacific

But my friends, my brothers and sisters of the Pacific, we know who we are. We carry in our hearts the knowledge that we are the bearers of a proud legacy that surely marks us as people of strength, and courage and will. We have survived in our aquatic continent through many centuries.

Fourth, preventing block confrontation with openness and inclusiveness. The cold war mentality is now resurging and greatly increases security risks of block confrontation in the Asia Pacific. Some big power continue to promote its so-called Indo-Pacific strategy. China holds that no strategy should be based on ideological ground and aim to build exclusive military alliances against imagined threats, as this could easily lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

From Persia to the Chinese Sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to the islands of Java and Borneo, from Oceania to Socotra, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales and her civilization. She has left indelible imprints on one-fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries.

It is unrealistic to imagine a US geostrategic vision which sees its pivotal interests linked exclusively to the Pacific region. More appropriately, we need to consider the wider Middle East, Central Asia and North-East Africa to be bound together in a geopolitical unit of pivotal importance.