10111951  Text of the Speech made by Sir Gladwyn Jebb (United Kingdom) in the Security Council Meeting No. 566 held on 10 November, 1951

10111951  Text of the Speech made by Sir Gladwyn Jebb (United Kingdom) in the Security Council Meeting No. 566 held on 10 November, 1951

In his report [S/2375] presented to the Security Council on 18 October, a copy of which we have in front of us, Mr. Graham, the United Nations representative for India and Pakistan, recommended that if the Security Council decided in favour of a renewed effort to obtain the agreement of the Governments of India and of Pakistan to the proposals for demilitarisation which he made to them, he might be instructed to continue his negotiations with the parties.

Members of the Council will, I am sure, share our own admiration for the ability and devotion brought by Mr. Graham to this difficult task. They will equally, I am sure, support my view that, if in Mr. Graham's view there is any chance that, by a further comparatively brief period of negotiation, agreement between the parties can be reached or substantial progress towards agreement made, that chance should be taken. That Mr. Graham does consider a prospect of further progress exists is evident. It is therefore the opinion of my Government and, I believe, of the Government of the United States who are the co-sponsors of the draft resolution [S/2390] which is now in front of you, that this recommendation of Mr. Graham's should be accepted.

This forms the central feature of the draft resolution which instructs the United Nations representative to continue his endeavours to obtain the agreement of the parties to a plan for demilitarisation and to make his report to the Security Council within six-weeks from the coming into force. of the resolution.

The draft before the Council is a brief and simple one and one that I hope both parties will be able to accept without reservation. We are, I am sure, all agreed that Mr. Graham's prospects in this further mission, in which we fervently wish him all success and I am only sorry that, being indisposed, he is not here this morning, so that I am not in a position to wish him success personally-will best be served by the avoidance now of any lengthy debate. We have not felt that any detailed restatement of the United Nations representative's terms of reference was needed. He will still be operating within the framework of the Security Council's resolution of 30 March last [539th meeting]. He will in fact be trying to complete, in the additional six-weeks now proposed, the task assigned to him under that resolution. I do not think that I need go into any lengthy exposition of this draft resolution, but I should like to draw the attention of members of the Council to the second paragraph of the preamble.

My Government has felt it important that Mr. Graham and the parties should be left in no doubt of the Council's approval of the manner in which he performed his task and of the broad lines of the programme for demilitarisation which he laid before the parties.

There is one further question not directly touched upon in the draft resolution to which I must refer. Members will recall that the Council's resolution of 30 March reminded the governments and authorities concerned of the principle embodied in the various Security Council and United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan resolutions on Kashmir, that the final disposition of the State should be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.

The resolution went on to point out that the convening of a Constituent Assembly by Sheikh Abdullah's Government in Kashmir and any action taken by that Assembly to determine the future shape of the State would not constitute a disposition of the state in accordance with the above principles.

Finally, the operative part of the resolution called on both parties to refrain from any action likely to prejudice a just and peaceful settlement.

Now, since that resolution was adopted, a Constituent Assembly has been convened by Sheikh Abdullah's Government. Its inaugural session in Srinagar has just ended, and speakers, including Sheikh Abdullah, have referred to the question of the future of the State. As far as I can judge, the Constituent Assembly itself has not sought to pronounce on this issue of accession.

I should like, if I may, to make it clear that His Majesty's Government attaches great importance to those portions of the 30 March resolution dealing with this subject, and I think it is pertinent to recall the assurances given to this Council from time to time by the representatives of India that the Kashmir Constituent Assembly is not competent to take any decision on the question of accession; and that, though it cannot be prevented from expressing its opinion on this subject, this opinion will not bind the Government of India or prejudice the position of this Council

Those solemn assurances have been strengthened by a recent statement made by Mr. Nehru which I am sure my colleagues from Pakistan and members of the Council will welcome. I should like to quote the relevant portion of this statement if it has reached me. In answer to a question about the effect which the convening of the Kashmir Constituent Assembly would have on the current United Nations proceedings in Paris, Mr. Nehru said:

"We have made it perfectly clear in our statement in the Security Council that the Kashmir Constituent Assembly, so far as we are concerned, does not come in the way of a decision by the Security Council; that stands completely."

That is a quotation from what Mr. Nehru said. Mr. Nehru went on to emphasise India's wish for the earliest possible plebiscite, and to state that India stood completely by her commitments to the Security Council. These are very welcome statements, and I am sure they augur well for Mr. Graham's further mission.

It is, therefore, with real confidence in the chances of Mr. Graham's success, that I recommend the adoption by the Security Council of the draft resolution which is now before it.