Kashmir (Hansard, 18 July 1962)

§ Mr. P. Thomas

The following is the reply:

SIR PATRICK DEAN'S STATEMENT IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON JUNE 15, 1962.

When the Security Council last met in May to discuss the India-Pakistan question, my delegation expected that an interval for reflection on the facts then placed before it would be useful before we met again, in order to consider further what this Council might do to discharge its responsibilities and to help towards a solution of the Kashmir dispute. In the six weeks that have passed the whole question has been under active consideration by members of the Council and I trust that at the end of our meetings we shall be able to reach a helpful and constructive conclusion.

The situation in Kashmir has shown no signs of improvement since we last met. On the other hand, both India and Pakistan have held faithfully to their assurances that they do not contemplate the use of force or of measures outside the scope of the Charter of the United 41W Nations to alter or terminate the present state of affairs. To this extent we can say that at least the situation is no worse and that the apprehensions that were expressed before the meeting of this Council in February have, in the event, happily proved unfounded. This encourages us to believe not only that a solution to the dispute is possible, but that the Governments of India and Pakistan will, without recourse to arms, pursue paths which lead to a final solution of this long-standing problem. In December, 1956 Her Majesty's Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations gave to the United Kingdom Parliament the following statement of British policy on the Kashmir problem: "Her Majesty's Government have always hoped that the dispute would be settled by agreement between the two countries. That is still their hope. Meanwhile, Her Majesty's Government will continue to support efforts to reach agreement which would give effect to the resolutions of the United Nations". This remains Her Majesty's Government's policy: we are still convinced that a solution can only emerge from constructive and sincere negotiations between the Governments of India and Pakistan.

Until the India-Pakistan question was raised once more at the Security Council this winter, four years had passed since the last substantive discussion of the matter in this Council. It was the hope of the United Kingdom Government throughout that period, as indeed before, that the two parties would take advantage of this break in international discussion in order to hold negotiations privately which might at least have opened the way to a mutually acceptable solution. We were encouraged in this hope by the settlement since October, 1958, of many of the other difficult and complicated matters in dispute between India and Pakistan and by the fact that the leaders of both countries had met from time to time in the course of this period and had, we understood, discussed the problem of Kashmir. This process of reconciliation culminated in the signing, in the autumn of 1961, by President Ayub and Mr. Nehru of an agreement about the use of the waters of the Indus River Basin. This problem, a matter of vital importance to the economies of both India and Pakistan, was felt at one time to be well-nigh insoluble. But with statesmanship, good will and the assistance of the President of the World Bank, Mr. Eugene Black, a solution was found. This development seemed to us proof of the desire of the Governments of Pakistan and of India to remove all those obstacles which had prevented a full understanding between them. We have still no doubt that desire persists but, much to our regret, it has not so far proved possible to find a basis for the settlement of the Kashmir question which would be agreeable to both parties.

This continued disagreement between two member countries of the Commonwealth, for both of whom the United Kingdom has friendship and respect based on long years of the closest association, causes my delegation great concern and distress. There are perhaps no two countries in the world that have so many things in common, so many reasons for continued co-operation and amity, as have India and Pakistan. These stretch long into the past 42W and will continue far into the future despite the present difficulties and differences. Both countries are devoting themselves to the economic advance of their peoples: it is no less than tragic that any part of their energies and resources should be diverted to this sterile and arid political dispute. Anything which the Security Council can do to avoid the prolongation of this unhappy state of affairs should be welcome to the two parties, to their fellow members of the Commonwealth and to the world community as a whole.

This leads me to the question how the Security Council can help at the present moment. As to this, Mr. President, my delegation finds itself in general sympathy and agreement with the considerations advanced this morning in the persuasive statement of the distinguished representative of the United States. As I mentioned earlier, our view is that this dispute can only be settled by negotiation between the parties. Neither the Security Council nor any other outside body is in a position to dictate a solution. Nevertheless the Security Council certainly cannot wash its hands of this affair. The past history of discussion before it and its previous decisions make this impossible. We have the clear duty to formulate a view. Furthermore, I believe that the Security council can have a positive and helpful rôle to play. The absence of any progress over the last four years has disappointed our hopes that fruitful negotiations would take place without some form of friendly outside intervention. The Security Council may be able to help by acting as a catalyst and in preparing the ground for negotiation. The Council should consider whether there is not some procedure which it might recommend with a view to clearing the air and removing the obstacles, in order to bring about a negotiation in the most hopeful circumstances. We naturally hope that any such procedure as may be suggested as the upshot of our discussions here would be welcome to the Governments of both India and Pakistan and would be accepted by them in the same friendly spirit as it is offered. The United Kingdom Government is encouraged by the precedent of the Indus Waters to think that a procedure roughly analogous-that is to say by the two parties availing themselves, to the extent that this might be useful, of the good offices of some third party acceptable to both of them-might lead the way to the solution that I am sure is desired by all.

We hope, therefore, that further discussion at this current session will not become too embedded in the past history of the case. My delegation has deliberately not entered into the rights and wrongs, or the merits and demerits of the dispute. We have our views, but we do not feel that it would be helpful to the prospects of solution to utter them at this stage, it is not by the laying of blame but by the good will of those most closely concerned that success in resolving this dispute will come. We therefore most earnestly ask that the Government of India and Pakistan and the members of this Council consider the matter in the light of future prospects of solution rather than of past histories of disagreements and disputes.