Text of the speech made by Mr Walker (Australia) in the Security Council Meeting No. 773 held on 29 February 1957

Text of the speech made by Mr Walker (Australia) in the Security Council Meeting No. 773 held on 29 February 1957

The Australian delegation deplores the Soviet Union veto of the draft resolution which commanded nine votes in the Council. We do not agree for a moment with the remarks made by the Soviet Union representative when he suggested that the draft resolution which he had defeated was contrary to the terms and spirit of the Charter; nor would I consider it worth spending any time in discussing his suggestion that the purpose of that draft resolution was to bring about another Soviet veto. It was the deep and earnest hope of my delegation-and, I am sure, of the other delegations which supported it-that the draft resolution would be carried and would pave the way for a very useful work by our President in relation to the problem of Kashmir.

We would not wish to see the firm desire of the Council to assist toward a solution of this problem completely frustrated by the Soviet veto, and we have, therefore, joined in sponsoring the new draft resolution which has just now been circulated [S/3792 and Corr. 1].

There is general agreement in the Council regarding the value of a visit by yourself, Mr. President, and your taking up with the Governments of India and Pakistan any proposals that in your view might lead to some progress in dealing with this difficult problem. The representative of India has assured us that our President will be welcome at any time, even though the terms of his mission may have to be considered within their political context.

As the draft resolution is now drafted, it gives to the President a free hand in selecting proposals for examination with the Governments of India and Pakistan, and the draft resolution, in that way, expresses the full confidence that we have in our distinguished President to handle this particular matter.

The views of the Australian on the method of the plebiscite and on the desirability of concentrating upon reaching agreement on appropriate measures of demilitarisation as a necessary preliminary have already been stated in the Council [768th meeting, paras, 52 and 53], and my delegation would hope that they would be borne in mind by the President when he undertakes this mission.

I very much hope that the Council will be able to adopt the draft resolution that has now been submitted by the United Kingdom and the United States along with Australia.