10111951 Text of the Speech made by Mr. Gross (United States of America) in the Security Council Meeting No. 566 held on 10 November, 1951
10111951 Text of the Speech made by Mr. Gross (United States of America) in the Security Council Meeting No. 566 held on 10 November, 1951
Looking back at the last meeting of the Security Council on this subject of the India-Pakistan question [564th meeting]. I think of it as a memorable one. It was memorable for the eloquence and wisdom with which the United Nations representative put his report before us. I too, regret that he is not able to be here today with us; I understand he is confined to a hospital room and I am sure that we all wish him a speedy recovery.
Our last meeting on this subject was memorable also, I think, because the presence of Mr. Graham in this case is, in our view, in itself a fact of positive importance. The statement which Mr. Graham made to the Council at that meeting demonstrates that he approached his task with an open mind and only one desire-to be of the utmost service to the Security Council, whose insistent wish it is to see this question settled promptly and with justice. Mr. Graham has stated his belief that both parties now realise the vital importance of a peaceful settlement of this issue. However, both his report [S/2375] and his statement to the Security Council show his awareness of the difficulties to be surmounted before he will have succeeded in assisting the parties to affect the demilitarisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with their undertakings. Such a result would, as he put it, give a lift to the spirits of people who are struggling to be free, and although he feels it is a possibility which is not to be excluded, at the same time he does not under-estimate the difficulties. of arriving at t. So much is clear from Dr. Graham's report and statement.
It is impossible to believe that either the Government of India or of Pakistan underestimates the apprehensions with which all friends of the people of the Asian subcontinent view the protracted continuance of the dispute with which we are dealing. There is but one thought in the minds of those who have at heart the interests of these two great peoples : the removal of this inflammatory and dangerous source of friction on a basis which has been agreed to by the parties. Another positive fact in this case is that the leaders of India and Pakistan have made judicious and restrained statements in discussing with the United Nations representative the issues on which agreement has not yet been reached. As a result of Mr. Graham's work during the past three and a half months he has suggested that a new effort should be made to proceed with the plan of demilitarisation and that a United Nations representative-he modestly does not mention himself-should continue these efforts and report to the Security Council within six weeks In short he asks for a little more time.
My Government is hopeful that the other members of the Security Council and the parties will agree that we are fortunate to have the skill and the faith of Mr. Graham and that we should pave the way for him to continue his efforts along the lines which he suggests in his report, and this is what the joint draft resolution [S/2390] is designed to do to give him the support, the encouragement and the time. My Government feels that the proposals for demilitarisation as set out by Mr. Graham form a solid basis upon which the parties can reach an agreement. The draft resolution itself does not, of course, deal with the details of the proposals themselves. It does endorse the principles underlying the proposals and the basis for a programme or, as Sir Gladwyn Jebb put it a few moments ago, the broad lines of the programme of demilitarisation which Mr. Graham laid before the parties in their negotiations.
It is a hopeful fact that the parties, during the course of the discussions with Mr. Graham, have reaffirmed their determination not to resort to force and to adhere to peaceful procedures. They have also reaffirmed their determination to observe the cease-fire agreement and their acceptance of the principle of an accession of the state by a free and partial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations. I think that these facts are dealt with property and with approval in the first paragraph of the operative part of the draft resolution. The apprehensions of the world concerning the present situation on the subcontinent of Asia, to which I have referred, underline the decisive importance of effecting demilitarisation. Truly the gap between agreement to demilitarise and the actual accomplishment of demilitarisation is the long gap between promise and performance, between success and failure.
The Security Council has repeatedly expressed concern also at the convening of a Constituent Assembly which might purport to decide the question of accession by some means other than a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations. I confess that my Government is troubled at the press reports, if they are correct, of Sheikh Abdullah's address to the recently convened Constituent Assembly, in which he is reported to have made the point that this Assembly has sovereign status, and that the decision and I quote the statement attributed to him-"has the irrevocable force of law." We will all recall that the representative of India stated to the Security Council on 1 March, 1951 [533rd meeting] that, so far as the Government of India is concerned, the Constituent Assembly is not intended to prejudice the issues before the Security Council or to come in its way. He went on to say on 29 March [538th meeting] that any opinion which the Constituent Assembly expresses will not bind the Government of India, nor prejudice the position of the Council. The members of the Security Council were gratified to hear these assurances repeated at our 548th meeting on 29 May, 1951, and I recall that it was during that same meeting that I had the occasion to express the concern of the United States Government regarding an earlier statement attributed to Sheikh Abdullah that the Constituent Assembly would purport to make a definitive decision on the question of accession.
These facts, therefore, lead me to restate what I have on behalf of my Government twice before observed to the Security Council, and most recently on 29 May, 1951, that so far as we view the matter any attempt to decide the issue without the consent of both parties would leave only a constant and explosive irritant in the relations between two governments, an irritant which might well prevent the bringing about of peace and security in South Asia.
On the other hand, it is reassuring that Prime Minister Nehru has recently been quoted as saying that India stands by its commitments to the Security Council, and as feeling that the United Nations representative has gone a long way towards success. The joint draft resolution [S/2390] correctly restates what has always been the view of the Security Council, that the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir should be determined by a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations. It is goes without saying that, in our view, the Security Council would have no choice but to regard any attempts by the Constituent Assembly to settle this matter itself as null and ineffectual. Since our last meeting, the peoples in India and Pakistan have, together with the peoples of the rest of the world, suffered a tragic event which deprived the world of a great leader and a wise statesman. Often in history the martyrdom of an individual sharpens the realisation of the gravity of problems and thus draws people closer together. The President of the United States, in a message to the Government of Pakistan, said that the memory of the Liaquat Ali Khan will long remain a guide and inspiration to the Government and people of Pakistan.
We are all fortunate that the policies and principles for which the Liaquat stood are now in the distinguished custody of the new Prime Minister, Khwaja Nazimuddin. Prime Minister of India stated on 17 October, As the
"All of us should now approach the large question of Indo-Pakistan relations in a new way and try to hush the voices of controversy and dispute and also try to find some way or path consistent with our self-respect and honour to establish real peace between India and Pakistan."
In concluding, I should like to say that my Government accepts the sober optimism of the United Nations representative. We entirely agree with his view that the settlement of this issue could have the most far-reaching results for the people of India and Pakistan as well as for the peoples of the world. In co-sponsoring with the United Kingdom the draft resolution before us, we suggest to the Security Council a simple and direct means of giving the United Nations representative a further opportunity to continue the practice of his art, because mediation is one of the greatest of the arts, and in my own country Mr. Graham is known as one of its most distinguished practitioners. The Government of the United States therefore recommends the draft resolution to the parties and to the Security Council.