Response of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan
following his election as President of the Pugwash Conferences on 12 August 2002
during the 52nd Pugwash Conference at UC, San Diego in La Jolla, California

I feel very humble standing before you to accept the Presidency of this unique organisation, considering the eminence of those who have occupied this position before. I am happy that Sir Joseph Rotblat, one of the founders of this organisation is with us. We do miss Sir Michael Atiyah, who along with Prof. George Rathjens, has done so much during the past 5 years to strengthen the contemporary relevance of Pugwash. We are indebted to both of them for their monumental contributions to the organisation.

I am particularly happy that we have at this meeting large numbers of International Student / Young Pugwash members. Their participation helps to bridge the generation gap in perceptions and priorities.

I realise that I am the first from a Third World Country to be elected President. This imposes on me the obligation to bring to your attention the threats to human security arising from poverty, hunger and unemployment. Clean drinking water is becoming a chemical curiosity in several parts of the developing world. Humankind cannot have a better common future without a better common present. Unsustainable life styles on the part of a few, and unacceptable poverty on the part of large numbers should not continue to co-exist, if we are to achieve the new Paradise referred to in the Russell ö Einstein Manifesto.

My initial acquaintance with the mission of Pugwash was in 1958, when at the second UN Conference on the Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy held in Geneva, Prof. H. J. Muller explained to me the purpose of Pugwash. Since then, I have followed with great admiration the statements issued after Pugwash Conferences, and rejoiced along with numerous other like-minded persons the recognition given to Sir Joseph Rotblat and to Pugwash in 1995 through the Nobel Peace Prize.

During my tenure as President, I shall do my best to draw public and political attention to the catastrophic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, as well as to the moral and ethical responsibility of scientists for their inventions. Anthropogenic threats to human security are increasing day by day. In addition to the nuclear peril, we should fight the biological and chemical perils now looming large on the horizon. For human induced maladies, only human beings can find remedies. I am confident that together with our young Pugwash members, we can continue to keep Pugwash an affirming flame, and a powerful moral force in the midst of the growing violence in the human heart we are witnessing today.

While there are many forms of threats to a sustainable human future, we should not relax our efforts in getting a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on all kinds of nuclear weapons approved by all nations by the year 2005, which marks the 50^th anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, and the 60^th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I consider the launching of an Agenda 2005 programme designed to terminate nuclear, biological and chemical perils forever, will meet with widespread support from concerned citizens worldwide who are all bewildered at the direction human civilization is taking following the September 11, 2001, events. We should focus our moral and intellectual resources to fostering harmony within humankind and between humankind and nature.

In all such efforts, we should keep in mind what Mother Theresa once said, "My work may be a drop in the ocean; but the ocean will be less with that missing drop". Let us continue to strive to be an organisation which helps to make a difference to human destiny – a destiny where the uncommon opportunities opened up by modern science and technology help to confer on every child, woman and man on our planet the four freedoms which President Roosevelt advocated 60 years ago ö freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of expression and freedom of worship.

I thank you again very much.

M S Swaminathan

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Nobel Peace Prize 1995

Pugwash Announces New President

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan

The Pugwash Council is pleased to announce that Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, UNESCO-Cousteau Professor in Ecotechnology and Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India, will become the President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, to take effect at the conclusion of the 52^nd Pugwash Conference being held at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California, from 10-14 August 2002.

Long recognized for his singular contributions to sustainable agriculture and food security, Prof. Swaminathan helped launch the “green revolution” which dramatically increased crop yields and converted India from a net food importer to a food exporter.  During his entire career, Prof. Swaminathan has worked tirelessly to ensure greater equity and eradicate poverty, hunger and deprivation around the world.

Outgoing Pugwash President, Sir Michael Atiyah, warmly welcomed the selection of Prof. Swaminathan, noting that the new President would help expand the Pugwash agenda in the years ahead to encompass issues relating to the health and welfare of the world’s peoples in addition to the traditional Pugwash goals of resolving conflict and eliminating nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

Prof. Swaminathan received his Ph.D. from the School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1952, and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and international awards, including most recently the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award (2000) and the Planet and Humanity Medal of the International Geographical Union (2000).

The Pugwash Council and the entire Pugwash community of more than 3,000 scientists and policy specialists in more than 60 countries warmly congratulate Prof. Swaminathan and look forward to working with him to advance the goals of Pugwash in the years ahead.