Assembly 355. DISARMAMENT.

1. In Sub-Committee 3 of Committee No. 1, discussion of United
States text was continued.

2. An amended text in substitution for paragraph 2 was unanimously
accepted. It now reads-'As an essential step towards the urgent
objective of eliminating from National Armaments, atomic and all
other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction and the early
establishment of International Control of Atomic Energy and other
modern Scientific discoveries and technological developments to
ensure their use only for peaceful purposes, the General Assembly
urges the expeditious fulfilment by the Atomic Energy Commission
of its Terms of Reference as set forth in Section 5 of the General
Assembly Resolution of 24th January 1946. In order to ensure that
the general prohibition, regulation and reduction of armaments are
directed towards the major weapons of modern warfare and not
merely towards the minor weapons, the General Assembly commands
that the Security Council expedite consideration of the reports
which the Atomic Energy Commission will make to the Security
Council and also that the Security Council expedite consideration
of a Draft Convention or Conventions for the prohibition of Atomic
weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and for the
establishment of an International system of control and
inspection.'
3. Molotov had made strenuous efforts to secure adoption of Soviet
amendment [1] without change and in particular recommendation that
the Security Council 'expedite consideration of a Draft Convention
for the prohibition of Atomic weapons'. He clearly had in mind a
convention of the type proposed by Gromyko to the Atomic Energy
Commission. [2] However, both Shawcross and Connally were very
firm and insisted that any convention must include a system of
International Control and Inspection and that weapons of mass
destruction other than Atomic weapons must also be covered.

Australia adopted a similar line pointing out further that it was
not for the Sub-Committee to prejudge the type of control system
required for Atomic energy, stressing again the problems raised by
the need for development of Atomic Energy for peaceful purposes
and the fact that peaceful and destructive uses are intimately
related.

We regard the Soviet proposals for the establishment of a Control
Commission merely to control the execution of a decision regarding
the prohibition of the use of Atomic Energy for military purposes
as an attempt to sidestep the development aspects of the Baruch
plan, and having in mind the prospect of the substantial
redrafting of the Soviet proposal which will be required, we
secured the elimination from the paragraph of all reference to
later portions of the resolution. We believe text as adopted
satisfies major objectives in paragraph 2, of Australian
Resolution first part of which is reproduced.