64021964 Text of the Speech made by Mr. Stevenson (United States of America) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1091 held on 64 February 1964

Text of the Speech made by Mr. Stevenson (United States of America) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1091 held on 64 February 1964

So much has been said on the Kashmir case in this Council over the past sixteen years that I shall not impose on the Council's patience by reviewing the case again.

It is a matter of the greatest regret to my Government, as it is to so many Governments here represented, that India and Pakistan have been unable to reach a settlement either through

the mechanism set up by the Security Council or in bilateral talks, and that this dispute continues to occupy so much of the time of the international community. We are also profoundly concerned with the recurring communal disturbances in India and Pakistan which have caused such appalling loss of life, destruction of property, displacement of people and human misery. It is hard for us to understand why these two countries have not found it possible, during all of these years of bloodshed and of violence, to take joint action to calm this situation, to allay the suffering, and to stem the panic and migration of thousands of frightened human beings. Until there is a far greater effort to resolve these problems, they will continue to threaten the integrity and the prosperity of both countries.

I should like today to review the essentials of the approach which my Government has taken, and continues to take, toward this everlasting question of Kashmir. The origin of the dispute is complicated and deeply buried in the history of the great subcontinent. But, in 1948 India and Pakistan agreed to the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan as a political compromise of the difficulties which followed from the partition of the subcontinent into two countries and the ensuing dispute over the status of Kashmir. The essence of this compromise was that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have the right to determine their future without coercion or intimidation by the military forces of either country. Our support of the United Nations resolutions is based on this principles of self-determination. The political compromise has not been fulfilled, and so we have seen no progress, only further embitterment of relations between these two great countries.

Throughout the history of this issue, it has been the desire of the United States to do what it could to compose the differences between two friends. In doing so, we have started from the point of agreement between them, because it was an equitable compromise based upon the sound principle that the people whose political affiliation and national status were subject to dispute have the right to express their will. We continue to support this principle as providing a sound basis upon which a political compromise of the dispute between India and Pakistan can be achieved through peaceful means.

If India and Pakistan are genuinely desirous of composing their differences, which is a prior condition of any political compromise, a fresh attempt must be made, in light of today's realities, to see how the basic principles can be applied to achieve such a political settlement. India, and indeed part of the very area in dispute, is under threat of Chinese Communist military attack. For this reason, as well as because of our long-standing concern that the Kashmir question be peacefully resolved, we urged bilateral talks between the parties last year. While these talks did not bring agreement, neither were they useless. Exploration of disputes through negotiation is a fundamental principle of the United Nations. It is the only way agreement can be achieved, short of imposition by force. An agreement cannot be imposed from outside.

We recognize that the legitimate security interests of both India and Pakistan involve intricate internal problems of law and order and political consent. However, the international community has a right to expect of these two great and ancient countries what we expect of all members of the United Nations community, and that is a diligent and unrelenting effort to resolve their differences peacefully through negotiations. It must be recognized by both countries that the problem of Kashmir cannot be settled unilaterally by either party. It can only be settled, as I say, by agreement and compromise, taking into account the free expression of will of the people concerned. The United Nations was created to assist Member States in this regard, and its resources are available to help the parties in the search for a solution. Friends of both countries also stand ready to help.

Given the history of efforts to resolve the issues between India and Pakistan in the past, my Government believes that the two countries should consider the possibility of recourse to the good offices of a country or a person of their choice to assist them in bringing about the resumption of negotiations and in mediating their differences. My Government also suggests that the Secretary-General might be of assistance to the two countries in exploring the possibility of such third party mediation. There has already been some progress toward bilateral talks on the communal conflict and the migration question.

I hope that the two nations may now resume their efforts to agree upon this first step towards finding a firmer basis for communal harmony and dealing with the problem of refugees.

These suggestions are accompanied by the earnest hope of stimulating these two Members of the United Nations to make a new approach in a new and urgent effort to resolve their differences. These problems are not susceptible of quick solution, we know only too well. My Government has no illusions on that score. But a fresh start must be made, and Pakistan and India have, we believe, a responsibility to their own peoples, to the people of Kashmir and to the world community to set these issues on the road to final solution for the sake of humanity and of peace.