14021964 Text of the Speech made by Mr. Seydoux (France) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1091 held on 14 February 1964

Text of the Speech made by Mr. Seydoux (France) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1091 held on 14 February 1964

I shall naturally not go over the past history of the problem which has again come before the Security Council. The numerous debates in previous years, and very substantial statements made here by the Minister for External Affairs of Pakistan and the Minister of Education of India, have given the Council as much information as was possible. However, I will stress the seriousness of a situation which for the past seventeen years has been a source of concern to the many friends of India and Pakistan. France is one of these; it sets great store by this friendship, which is of value to it and indeed to the whole world. For the two countries which are divided by the question of Kashmir are the repositories of a very old civilization, of a great culture and of religions which throughout history have helped to strengthen the spirit of tolerance.

The very structure of these countries, in which very many peoples of very different races and customs live side by side on the same continent, should provide an increasingly interdependent world with a model of true coexistence. India and Pakistan have often set us an example in that respect; they are still doing so in most of their territory. They should both know that our dearest wish is that this action, carried on despite so many trials and difficulties, should be brought to a successful conclusion. Without a final settlement, is there not a danger that action may fail in its results for the whole of the subcontinent? Have the recent disturbances, and the statements we have heard here, not confirmed what a chain reaction of violence might be set off on both sides of the frontier by disturbances at any locality?

Neither country can believe that, if the situation deteriorates, only the other party would suffer from the disorder of a conflict involving not merely two countries so closely linked but the actual communities composing them. Both would be deeply shaken, and the world would witness a disturbance of balance which could have very serious consequences. It is, indeed, the fragility of this balance that worries us. In order to strengthen it, not only the symptoms but the causes of the evil must be treated. Moreover, the treatment must be gradual and must respect the feelings and beliefs of all. Developments in recent years have shown, on another continent, that it was possible to effect a sincere rapprochement between two nations previously divided by an age-old struggle.

In the matter before us, the task of understanding and conciliation in which the Council has again agreed to participate undoubtedly requires an effort to discard prejudices, to revise judgements that are no longer realistic, and to go beyond encouraging but insubstantial utterances-in other words, to lay the foundations for a true settlement of the problem at issue. For it cannot be over-emphasized that, in questions affecting the very existence of States, the passage of time, far from facilitating the search for a solution, often makes it more difficult.

I should like here to pay a tribute to the action taken in this spirit by those of my colleagues, particularly my African colleagues and you yourself, Mr. President, who for the sole benefit of peace and international cooperation took the initiative of trying to find common ground between the two theses which have been put to us.

My delegation has no doubt that it is in this direction that we must advance. We believe that only the restoration of an atmosphere of understanding, and the resumption of the dialogue, can promote a settlement which all desire if, in the search for this settlement, the past action of our Organisation, the wishes of the peoples and the legitimate interests of the two countries are, as important factors, taken into account.

However, it is quite certain that this hope would once again prove unfounded, despite all the authority with which the debates of the Security Council are invested, if the two Governments concerned were not moved by a sincere and resolute determination to give substance to it. I know of no better way to conclude than by expressing the wish that, once this debate is finished, they will re-establish contact in the spirit of the ideas put forward by the Council and that they will not hesitate, if they feel it necessary, to have recourse to the procedure of good offices, in order to facilitate the solutions which we all await.