Text of the Speech made by the President Mr. Arthur J. Goldberg as representative of the United States of America in the Security Council Meeting No 1237 held on 4 September 1965
Text of the Speech made by the President Mr. Arthur J. Goldberg as representative of the United States of America in the Security Council Meeting No 1237 held on 4 September 1965
As no other members of the Security Council wish to speak, I shall now speak as the representative of the United States of America.
I speak for my Government in total support of the draft resolution submitted by Bolivia, the Ivory Coast, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Uruguay. I should like to compliment the sponsors for drafting a resolution which represents, as is apparent from the discussion here this afternoon and now tonight, the overwhelming sentiment of the members of the Security Council.
We are meeting here, as is apparent, in a spirit of grave concern for peace on the Asian subcontinent. The reverberations of fighting between the forces of India and Pakistan are reaching us in increasing volume. As the Secretary-General has reported so well and so objectively, the cease-fire has been broken and there have been serious breaches of the cease-fire line in Jammu and Kashmir. Armed personnel as well as military units of the regular forces of both India and Pakistan have now crossed the cease-fire line established by agreement on 27 July 1949. I shall not attempt to recapitulate the facts, which have been set out in the report of the Secretary-General, but shall only share his concern. for future peace between India and Pakistan.
The United States, and, as has been made evident here today, all other members of this Council, have viewed these events with the greatest apprehension and concern. Since the birth of India and Pakistan, my Government has developed close and friendly relations with their Governments, relations which we wish with all sincerity to continue. The people of the United States have many ties based on friendship, common interest, and shared goals with the peoples of both India and Pakistan. These are expressed not only in the broad programmes which my Government has pursued, and is pursuing, to assist the development and security of these countries, but also in the form of many non-governmental exchanges and programmes, particularly in the fields of health, education and economic development. We know intimately from our close relations with both countries the intricacies of the underlying problem which is at the root of today's conflict, a problem which has been emphasised in the discussions which have taken place here today.
The immediate task at hand, however, is the cessation of a conflict, which unfortunately has been threatening since early 1965. All of us here today-Governments and individuals have been watching with apprehension the upward trend in the temperature in this area on the subcontinent during the past year. All the world breathed a little easier when in June the very dangerous crisis which had developed over the Rann of Kutch was overcome through the wise statesmanship of the Governments of Pakistan and India and the skilful good offices of the Government of the United Kingdom. The respite, un happily, was all too brief.
It was emphasised, in the comprehensive and carefully prepared report of the Secretary-General of 3 September, that there has been a disturbing increase in both the number and scale of incidents in the area of the cease-fire line in Kashmir since early 1965-violations of the agreement, signed by representatives of both Governments on 27 July 1949, which established the cease-fire line. In June, the Secretary-General, persevering as he does, was able through quiet persuasion to effect a solution of the threatening situation in the Kargil area-a very great contribution in the cause of international peace and security.
As noted in the report of the Secretary-General, the tempo of incidents rose again in early August. I shall not recount those incidents; they are fully and, I think, objectively reported in this report and in the details submitted to the Secretary-General by General Nimmo, Chief of the United Nations Military Observer Group.
As indicated in the report, the Secretary-General has, since early August, been endeavouring persistently and through quiet diplomacy to promote a restoration of calm and respect of the cease-fire. In his report to the Council, the Secretary General sets forth a number of conditions which he considers prerequisite to a restoration of the cease-fire. In his telegrams of 1 September to President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Shastri, appealing to both leaders to respect the cease-fire agreement, the Secretary-General again outlines these conditions. They are, in the view of my Government, both sound and reasonable and they are, in effect, endorsed by the cease-fire request made in the draft resolution.
I should like to point out that cooperation with the military observers, which is one of the Secretary-General's proposals, must mean full freedom of movement and access for the observers in the discharge of their functions. These functions are to observe and report any violation of the cease-fire and the cease-fire line and to supervise the cease-fire order. This clear supervisory function of the military observers derives from the terms of the resolution of 13 August 1948 of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan, part I of which was the basis for the cease-fire of 1 January 1949, which, in turn, is endorsed in the Karachi Agreement of 27 July 1949, establishing the cease-fire line. Paragraph D of part I of this resolution reads: "In its discretion and as the Commission may find practicable, the Commission will appoint military observers who, under the authority of the Commission and with the cooperation of both Commands, will supervise the observance of the cease fire order."
It is clear that all the conditions enumerated by the Secretary-General in his appeal are prerequisite to an effective cease-fire, which the draft resolution before us endorses.
When the Secretary-General's appeal to President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Shastri was made public, I immediately announced, with the authority of President Johnson, my Government's complete endorsement of that appeal. I have the authority from the President to reiterate that endorsement here today. It is all too clear that the latest developments in Kashmir bear tragic witness to the imperative need for an immediate cease-fire. I do not think I need to point out, after what has been said here today, the devastating consequences a war between India and Pakistan would have on the peoples of the subcontinent and I dare say on the entire world.
The world has been privileged to witness the remarkable economic and social progress of these two great countries in behalf of their peoples, and many of the nations represented in this Council have been able to contribute to this process. It ought to continue, under conditions of peace, in the interests of the inhabitants of both countries. It would be an unthinkable tragedy should these great achievements, past and present and future-be annulled by a failure to end the current fighting promptly and firmly. I profoundly believe that this Council can do no less than give its fullest support to the appeal of the Secretary-General and to the draft resolution just submitted by my colleague from Malaysia speaking on behalf of representatives and nations which participated in the drafting of this text.
Moreover, my Government believes that it is of the highest importance to the cause of world peace and security, and indeed to the cause of the Charter, which is dedicated to these great principles, that the Security Council must clearly and unequivocally place its great authority behind these grave appeals, and we party that the parties involved will hear our voices and draw back from the catastrophe which threatens all of them. The first to them, and to the world, of their failure to do so would be beyond any measure that any of us here today could even contemplate.