17091965 Text of the Speech made by the Secretary-General in the Security Council Meeting No. 1239 held on 17 September 1965
Text of the Speech made by the Secretary-General in the Security Council Meeting No. 1239 held on 17 September 1965
In my preliminary report [S/6683] on my mission to India and Pakistan in pursuit of the mandate given to me by the Council in its resolution 210 (1965) of 6 September 1965, I informed the Council of my formal approaches to the two Governments and of the replies I had received from them. I now wish to advise the Council briefly of the views that I have formed as a result of my talks with the Governments of India and Pakistan. In the course of my talks with Prime Minister Shastri,
President Ayub Khan and their colleagues, I had the opportunity to hear from both sides a detailed exposition of their views on the present critical situation which has developed over Kashmir. I also requested, and received from both sides, aide-memoirs on their positions and views. Since the Council obviously wished me to report to it as soon as possible after my return, I have thought it best-having reached New York at 3.15 p.m. on Thursday, 16 September-to confine myself at this time to relatively brief report on the impressions and conclusions I have formed during my mission. I have also thought it best at this time not to give a detailed expose of the views of the two Governments as expressed to me, since the replies of Prime Minister Shastri and President Ayub Khan to my message of 12 September 1965, contained in my above mentioned preliminary report to the Council, give an official summary of the positions of the two Governments on the Security Council's call and on my own appeals for a cease-fire.
The following brief account of my own observations of the present situation will serve as a prelude to certain thoughts which may, I hope, be helpful to the Council in its further consideration of this critical situation. In this tragic war two closely associated nations find themselves locked in a destructive struggle. Regardless of the merits of the case, the present situation is crippling and potentially disastrous for both nations. Each nation feels that it has been abused by the other, and each is convinced that the other has committed aggression. In common they have a feeling of having been let down to some extent by their allies and by the United Nations, whose Members, for the most part, watch in bewilderment and anxiety the spectacle of two sister nations, with both of which many
countries have close links, engaged in fratricidal struggle. Inherent in this situation are all of the phenomena-the aroused emotions, misunderstandings, long-pent-up resentments, suspicions, fears, frustrated aspirations and heightened national feelings-which throughout history have led to needless and futile wars. These are factors which also make it difficult for the leaders on both sides to respond to the unconditional cease-fire appeals of the Security Council. The present war is clearly to the ultimate disadvantage of both nations and can bring no lasting good to either. Both countries have vast economic and social problems which they have been facing courageously and with considerable success. The war will slow down, or even bring to a halt, these vital efforts towards economic and social development.
The present crisis has inevitably served to harden even further the previous positions taken by the two Governments, since both find it impossible to make concessions under the threat of force. Each has the feeling that only outside support has made it possible for the other to commit what it believes to be aggression.
The Security Council is thus faced with a paradoxical situation. It has passed urgently and unanimously two resolutions [resolutions 209 (1965) and 210 (1965)] requiring an immediate cessation of hostilities. It has authorised me to exert every possible effort to give effect to these resolutions. Before and during my mission, I have received messages of support and offers of assistance from leaders in all parts of the world. Both sides have expressed their desire for a cease-fire and a cessation of hostilities in the entire area of the current conflict. Nevertheless, up to now, I have not succeeded in securing an effective practical measures of compliance by the two sides with the Security Council's resolutions.
What further course of action may be open to the Security Council ? In older and less interdependent times, the international community could perhaps have now washed its hands of the matter, leaving the parties to fight it out, heedless of the ruin which such a course must certainly bring to millions of innocent people in both countries. Such a course of action is inconceivable today. Moreover, it is not only the fate of the peoples of India and Pakistan which is at stake. Both States are linked in a peculiarly intricate way with the mainstream of world affairs. The very unanimity of the Security Council on this matter and the direct appeals from so many Governments are indications of how serious a threat this crisis poses to world peace. Quite apart from the well-being of the two nations concerned, there can be little doubt that a real danger to world peace is now imminent.
Before advancing some ideas, I feel that I should also state my own views about the role of the United Nations, and of the Security Council in particular, in the present crisis. The Council is faced, as I have said, with a situation of the greatest difficulty and complexity. It has acted with both speed and unanimity. If success has not yet been achieved in securing compliance with the Council's resolutions, that is all the more reason for making further strenuous efforts for a cease-fire as well as for long-term solutions. I feel strongly that in this situation, when the hopes of the world are focused on the Security Council, which has the primary responsibility under the Charter for maintaining international peace and security, the Council faces not only an exceptionally difficult task but also a rare opportunity to show that peace can be restored and international harmony promoted by the concerted efforts of the international community. In saying this I am thinking not only of the well-being and future of the Governments and peoples of India and Pakistan, but also of the hopes of mankind for a more peaceful world which are centered on the United Nations.
With the above impressions in mind, and being convinced -as I stated in my second message to the two Heads of Government on 14 September [see S/6683, para. 10] and in my statement at the airport in New Delhi on my departure for New York-of the fundamental desire of both parties to end the fighting, I am taking the liberty of expressing the following thoughts in the hope that they may be helpful to the Council and to the two Governments themselves in facing the immediate necessity of obtaining an effective cease-fire.
First, the Security Council might now do what it has done once before, and successfully, in another dangerous conflict situation: it could order the two Governments concerned, pursuant to Article 40 of the Charter of the United Nations, to desist from further hostile military action and to this end to issue cease-fire orders to their military forces. The Council might also declare that failure by the Governments concerned to comply with this order would demonstrate the existence of a breach of the peace within the meaning of Article 39 of the Charter.
Second, the Security Council may wish to consider what assistance it might provide in ensuring the observance of the cease-fire.
Third, Security Council resolution 210 (1965) of 6 September also calls for a prompt withdrawal of all armed personnel to the positions held by them before 5 August 1965, and the Council may wish to study means of assisting in the carrying out of this requirement.
Fourth, the Council could request the two Heads of Government to meet together at the earliest possible time to discuss the current situation and the problems underlying it as a first step in resolving the outstanding differences between their two countries and in reaching an honourable and equitable settlement. Such a meeting might take place in a country friendly and acceptable to both. In this connection, I might draw the attention of the Council to my message of 15 September to Prime Minister Sharti and President Ayub Khan, the text of which is set forth in my preliminary report [Ibid., para. 13]. The Council could also consider the possibility of creating and making available a small committee to assist in such talks should its services seem useful and desirable to the two parties.
Fifth and finally, I may again assure the Council of my availability and of my desire to continue to be of assistance in this matter in any way which may commend itself to the Council and to the two Governments.
Since Security Council resolution 210 (1965) also requested me to take all possible measures to strengthen UNMOGIP, I wish to inform the Council that, as a matter of course, I had consultations with Lieutenant-General R. H. Chief Military Observer, during my mission. Nimmo, the While in the present situation the role of UNMOGIP is obviously more difficult than usual, I have benefited much from the knowledge and experience of General Nimmo. I have taken immediate steps to obtain extra transport and communications equipment to facilitate the task of UNMOGIP. I have also made provisional arrangements to increase the number of military observers at short notice, should developments make this increase necessary.
In its resolution 210 (1965) the Security Council asked me to keep it informed on the situation in the area. The military situation is covered in a separate report [S/6687]. I would not wish to let this occasion pass without
expressing my warm appreciation and gratitude to the many statesmen and Governments from whom I have received, both before and during my mission to India and Pakistan, messages of support and encouragement as well as practical measures of assistance.
Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to the Governments of India and Pakistan both for their kindness and hospitality to me and my party and for their frankness and helpfulness in their talks with me. I hope and believe that these talks will eventually contribute to a peaceful solution of the present crisis.