14031950 Text of the Speech made by Sir Mohammad Zafrulla Khan (Pakistan) in the Security Council Meeting No. 470 held on 14 March 1950

14031950 Text of the Speech made by Sir Mohammad Zafrulla Khan (Pakistan) in the Security Council Meeting No. 470 held on 14 March 1950

In the course of my submission to the Council when it met last, I made it quite clear that the attitude of my Government was to regard the draft resolution, in its main features, as satisfactory. In fact, I had very little to say on the language of the resolution itself. Such observations as I submitted to the Council were directed towards a portion of the clarifications offered to the Council on behalf of the sponsors of the resolution by Sir Terence Shone. I shall try to follow the lead given by Sir Benegal N. Rau by way of keeping my own statements quite concise and brief.

Before I submit my Government's attitude on the resolution itself, I do want to make just one observation on something that was said by Sir Benegal N. Rau during his submission to the Council at the last meeting which I was not quite able to follow at the moment. In drawing attention to sub-paragraph 2 (d) of the joint draft resolution, he said that he assumed, or at any rate desired, that the agreements referred to therein. would also include an agreement that may be arrived at in the future. As I have said, I was not quite able to follow him then, but a further study of his statement, and consultation with my advisors, has indicated what his meaning might have been. Sub-paragraph 2 (d) reads as follows:

"To arrange at the appropriate stage of demilitarization for the assumption by the Plebiscite Administrator of the functions assigned to the latter under agreements made between the parties."

It is perfectly clear that the joint draft resolution speaks of agreements made between the parties in the course of the two resolutions of the Commission of 13 August 1948 [S/1100, paragraph 75] and 5 January 1949 [S/1196, paragraph 15]. which both parties accepted. During the course of the speeches made in the Security Council with reference to this matter, and in the clarifications offered by Sir Terence Shone, this matter has not been left in any doubt. I refer to it merely in order to draw attention to the fact that the language to paragraph 2, as well as the meaning of the whole draft resolution, is entirely unsusceptible to the interpretation sought to be placed upon sub-paragraph 2 (d) by Sir Benegal N. Rau.

I pointed out at the last meeting that in our view two of the clarifications offered were not in accord with the spirit or language of the draft resolution.

First, according to us, there is no kind of assumption made by General McNaughton in sub-paragraph 2 (b) of his proposals. That sub-paragraph is quite clear. It reads as follows: "The 'northern area' should also be included in the above programme of demilitarization, and its administration should, subject to United Nations supervision, be continued by the existing local authorities". That, I submit, is perfectly clear; as a matter of fact, it stands in no need of clarification.

With regard to sub-paragraph 2 (b) of the draft resolution under discussion, I took pains at that time to submit to the Security Council-and I need not repeat what I said on that occasion and have repeatedly declared on every occasion when this matter has come before the Security Council, or has been discussed before the Commission-that the agreed objective between the parties is that the question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan or to India is to be determined through the democratic process of a free and impartial plebiscite; and that that is the objective which has to be pursued unswervingly and unflinchingly by the United Nations representative to be appointed under this draft resolution, as well as by all other organs of the Security Council and of the United Nations as a whole.

Having made these submissions, I need only remind the Security Council what Pakistan's attitude was generally with regard to the McNaughton proposals, and that having been so, I do not think that anybody could have been left in any doubt with regard to what Pakistan's attitude would be towards the joint draft resolution which is based upon the proposals of General McNaughton; that is, that we accept the draft resolution and shall do whatever may be required of us to cooperate with the United Nations representative and the Plebiscite Administrator, and with any other authorities and organs that may be appointed to carry through the objectives of this draft resolution. And when I say "we accept the draft resolution", I mean both the letter and the spirit thereof: what it aims at, and the processes through which it desires to arrive at that aim.