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Friday, June 1, 1973
"The Commonwealth asks us to live up to its ideals of friendship
and understanding. But it also provides us with practical opportunities
to cooperate, to serve each other and to break down the fences between
peoples. It calls for the interest, curiosity and concern of all of us
and especially of the 400 million young people who are under 25.
"I know from my own experience how rewarding personal contacts
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in the Commonwealth can be, but we must both keep our friendship alive
and at the same time never forget the importance of devising further
ways of strengthening the links between us. No other association of
independent nations in the world's history has given such scope for the development of new relationships between individuals and between governments.
"The challenges are therefore very real and very demanding. If
we fail to meet them, our successors will reflect sadly on a wonderful
opportunity lost. If we succeed, we shall not only build a stronger
and happier Commonwealth, but we shall also show that mankind is capable
of living in peace and amity on a scale never achieved before."
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