United Nations General Assembly A/RES/56/16 Distr.: General 21 December 2001 Fifty-sixth session Agenda item 66 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the First Committee (A/56/528)] 56/16. Implementation of the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace The General Assembly, Recalling the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, contained in its resolution 2832 (XXVI) of 16 December 1971, and recalling also its resolution 54/47 of 1 December 1999 and other relevant resolutions, Recalling also the report of the Meeting of the Littoral and Hinterland States of the Indian Ocean held in July 1979, 1 Recalling further paragraph 148 of the Final Document of the Twelfth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Durban, South Africa, from 29 August to 3 September 1998, 2 in which it was noted, inter alia, that the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean would continue his informal consultations on the future work of the Committee, Emphasizing the need to foster consensual approaches that are conducive to the pursuit of such endeavours, Noting the initiatives taken by countries of the region to promote cooperation, in particular economic cooperation, in the Indian Ocean area and the possible contribution of such initiatives to overall objectives of a zone of peace, Convinced that the participation of all permanent members of the Security Council and the major maritime users of the Indian Ocean in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee is important and would assist the progress of a mutually beneficial dialogue to develop conditions of peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean region, Considering that greater efforts and more time are required to develop a focused discussion on practical measures to ensure conditions of peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean region, _______________ 1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 45 and corrigendum (A/34/45 and Corr.1). 2 See A/53/667-S/1998/1071, annex I. 01 47609