27011959  Letter dated 27 January 1959 from the representative of Pakistan Agha Shahi to the President of the Security Council.

27011959  Letter dated 27 January 1959 from the representative of Pakistan Agha Shahi to the President of the Security Council.

I have the honour to refer to the letter of the permanent representative of India, dated 15 December 1958, circulated as document S/5138 of 17 December 1958.

The communication from my Government [S/4110], which the letter under reference purports to answer, sought to bring a grave development in Jammu and Kashmir to the knowledge of the Security Council, it is astonishing that the Government of India should construe this as making a propagandist use of the forum of the United Nations. Since the question of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan, which is under the consideration of the United Nations, it is my Government's duty to keep the Security Council currently informed of all pertinent and developing facts. The accusation that my Government seeks thereby to roap the advantages of propaganda is, therefore, wide of the mark and cannot deflect it from the course of duly.

The fact that Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, the acknowledged leader of 4 million people of Kashmir, is being brought to a stage-managed trial, solely because he has been demanding the implementation of the Security Council resolutions, is, in my Government's View, a fact of ominous significance and a matter of immediate concern to the United Nations. The sheer political motivation of this action on the part of the Government of India being evident, it is not possible to accept the plea that the so-called legal proceedings in this regard are sub judice and, therefore, preclude any comment at this stage.

My Government takes note of the statement made by the permanent representative of India that it is the policy of his Government to promote friendly relations between India and Pakistan and, therefore, to avoid acrimonious exchanges. The Government of Pakistan would whole-heartedly reciprocate this sentiment if any sign were visible that it was not confined to the purely verbal plane. We have tried consistently to impress the Government of India that it is not by the occasional friendly word, accompanied by the consistently provocative deed, that good neighbourly relations can be established between India and Pakistan. Such relations between the two countries can only be established by a tangible move towards the settlement of their mutual disputes in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the Security Council to which both are solemnly pledged. My Government cannot believe that the Government of India has any serious intention of honouring its commitments when it persists in aggravating the situation by persecuting the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, who only demand the implementation of the accepted decisions of the Security Council.

I request that this letter be circulated to members of the Security Council as a Council document.

(Signed) AGHA SHAHI Acting

Permanent Representative of Pakistan

to the United Nations

(Source: UN Document No. S/4152)