HC Deb 24 November 1947 vol 444 cc1590-1
41. Mr. Piratin

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the United Kingdom representative on the Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly did not support the Indian resolution requesting South Africa to enter into a round table conference with India on the treatment of Indians in South Africa.

Mr. Mayhew

This resolution reaffirmed an Assembly resolution of the 8th December, 1946. It requested the Governments of India and the Union of South Africa to enter into discussions, to which the Government of Pakistan was to be invited, on the basis of the 1946 resolution. The United Kingdom Delegation voted against this year's resolution, principally because it was feared that reaffirmation of the 1946 resolution might hinder the creation of a suitable atmosphere for direct discussions between the parties concerned, which His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are most anxious to encourage.

The United Kingdom Delegation voted for another draft resolution recommending, without conditions, that the parties concerned should continue their efforts with a view to reaching an agreement directly settling their dispute and that, should they fail to reach such an agreement, they should submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Mr. Piratin

But if I understood the Minister's reply, is it not the fact that the resolution to which the British representative agreed is precisely the kind of resolution agreed upon in December, 1946, and that what the original Motion at the United Nations organisation asked for was that they should now pursue the original resolution to its conclusion, and all that this resolution—

Hon. Members

Speech.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member must learn how to ask supplementary questions, and not make allegations and imputations in speeches when he is asking them.

Sir T. Moore

Are we to understand, Mr. Speaker, that the hon. Member for Mile End (Mr. Piratin) has now been appointed as the representative of M. Gromyko in this House?

Mr. Speaker

That has nothing to do with this Question.