Text of the Speech made by Mr. Seydoux (France) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1237 held on 4 September 1965

Text of the Speech made by Mr. Seydoux (France) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1237 held on 4 September 1965

I apologize, Mr. President, for taking the floor at this late hour, but I must convey to you the French delegation's deep satisfaction on seeing you take your sent today at the head of the United States delegation. There can be no doubt that the Council will benefit enormously by the abilities which you have so amply demonstrated in the course of an exceptionally brilliant career.

The French delegation voted in favour of the draft resolution just adopted by the Council because that resolution, submitted by Bolivia, the Ivory Coast, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherland and Uruguay, meets the immediate requirements of a situation with which we are all deeply concerned. We are unanimous in our desire that the fighting should stop, that the cease-fire line should be strictly observed from now on, that the work of the United Nations observers should not be impeded, and that the Secretary-General, whose patient efforts since the beginning of the crisis deserve our gratitude, should continue to follow events and report to us.

The French delegation is not unaware that these are only emergency measures and that the problem of the root cause of the present crisis remains intact. However, in view of the fact that blood is being shed in Kashmir and that any prolongation of hostilities would greatly jeopardise peace in a whole region of the world, these emergency measures are an essential preliminary to the more basic examinations which the Council will later decide to undertake.

Thus, the resolution adopted today does not, in our opinion, prejudge the Council's future attitude towards the contradictory positions held by India and Pakistan with regard to the true nature of the present conflict.