16081950--176 Text of the Telegram dated 16 August 1950 from the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru to the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan Mr. Owen Dixon

16081950--176 Text of the Telegram dated 16 August 1950 from the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru to the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan Mr. Owen Dixon

Thank you for your message of 15 August which I received today. I have given its contents anxious thought and am communicating to you frankly my considered reactions to it. I must confess to you that your message surprised me greatly. The main proposal in it in regard to conditions governing the plebiscite is completely novel, and has not been previously mentioned at any stage during the last two years or more.

We have not opposed at any time an overall plebiscite for the State as a whole, but you made some alternative suggestions because you came to the conclusion that there were no prospects of an agreement as to conditions preliminary to such a plebiscite. On this basis I informed you that India was prepared to discuss alternative plans involving a partial plebiscite, provided Pakistan was also prepared to do so.

We have always recognized that any plan for a plebiscite should be such that the people concerned would be enabled to express their feelings freely and without fear. But your present proposal of setting up a new administrative body to carry on the functions of government is entirely opposed to our basic stand on the Kashmir issue. None of us here gol the impression during our talks with you in New Delhi that anything like this was in your mind. All that we discussed was the conditions governing the overall plebiscite. What you have suggested now goes far beyond anything that we could possibly consider or accept or what, in my view, the requirements of a fair and impartial plebiscite would justify, Your proposals would involve the supersession of the lawful government of the State for a period. We cannot agree to this in any way and for any period.

Your proposal envisages the participation of Pakistan in the plebiscite and the calling in of Pakistan troops. Both would, in effect, constitute a surrender to aggression. It has always been our view that, in the event of a plebiscite, the people of Kashmir should decide their future for themselves. Kashmiris who have gone out of the State should, of course, be entitled to return for this purpose. But I do not think that others have any claim to participate in a plebiscite campaign.

Whatever steps may be taken, we have always made it clear that the security of the State cannot be endangered. We have had painful experiences of aggression and we cannot afford to take further risks of this kind. On no account can we permit any Pakistan troops to enter the plebiscite area.

Before concluding I should like to make one further observation. In the second paragraph of your message you say that for certain reasons the Prime Minister of Pakistan has expressed to you the unwillingness of his Government to receive or consider any alternative proposal or plan. Later on, you say that Pakistan is ready to attend the conference on the footing that the presence in your intended plan of pro vision for a limited plebiscite will not prove an insuperable objection. There seems to be a contradiction between the two positions and I am puzzled. This hardly justifies any optimism regarding the genuineness of the desire of Pakistan to seek a settlement on the basis of alternative principles of a partial plebiscite.

There are many other aspects of this matter which deserve consideration, but I do not wish to lengthen this reply. Should you, however, come to New Delhi, I would be glad to explain our position fully to you to avoid any possibility of any misunderstanding.

(Signed) Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister of India