China, India, Russia headline UN assembly debate(2)

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."