YouSaid · the spoken record

PRT (Head of Delegation)

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62
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1962-09-24
most recent
1962-09-24
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1
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un-general-debate

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  1. “Everything was tried — economic blockade, terrorism across the border, slanderous propaganda — and, being a liberal-minded Government, the Indian Government closed down Portuguese associations in Bombay, suppressed Portuguese newspapers, and dismissed and persecuted the many thousands of Goans who, although being in Indian territory, did not wish to lose their Portuguese nationality. At the same time the Indian Government appealed to political arguments, and these were, in substance, that Goa was a threat to the security of India. Indeed, 700,000 people were a threat to a nation of 450 million inhabitants. And still, in spite of all this, the Goans failed to be impressed — and Goa was peaceful, normal, enjoying an ever-increasing prosperity, and always displaying its desire to belong to the Portuguese nation. 12. Why was that so?”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  2. “In regard to this last point, one has to note therefore that, when the Indian Government seeks to annex an alleged colonial territory, it demands that such negotiations ought only to consist in the transfer of the territory from the sovereignty to which it belongs to the sovereignty of the Indian Union, Since Indian sovereignty, in our humble view, is neither superior nor inferior to Portuguese sovereignty, we fail to understand how and why, in the case of Portuguese India, the territory would become any more independent than it was by the fact of its abandoning Portuguese sovereignty in order to be incorporated into Indian sovereignty. 11. Then, seeing the fallacy of all these arguments, the Indian Government appealed to other types of action. For fourteen or fifteen years, the Indian Government terrorized the population of Goa.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  3. “The conclusions to be drawn from such a statement are that annexation of a territory by India immediately gives to that territory the status of independence — while the integration of the same territory into another sovereignty gives it the status of a "colony"; secondly, that Indian sovereignty has to be considered better than and superior to any other sovereignty: and finally that the negotiations desired by India were not be conducted between the people of the territory and the responsible country, as required by the resolutions of the General Assembly, but between the responsible country and India and this merely for the purpose of transferring the territory to India.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  4. “And then the Indian Union, if it possesses that "natural" and inherent right, may also claim neighbouring countries which have been under British sovereignty, only more so than in regard to those which were never a British responsibility. On the other hand, we are not aware that this God-given right of India may only be applied in respect of Portuguese territories, unless Such an application constitutes only the first step of the Indian Union along the path of the application of the same right of annexation to other independent countries which exist at present in the Indian sub-continent. 10. Then the Indian Government has officially stated that, being in favour of the independence of peoples, it would like to start negotiations for the transfer of power from Portugal to India.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  5. “In a note addressed to the Security Council on 13 December 1961, the Indian Government stated once again that, since India had achieved independence, it "naturally" hoped that other foreign territories in the Indian sub-continent would be transferred to India. Naturally, indeed! We are not aware that the Indian Union, by becoming independent from the United Kingdom, has thus acquired at the same time a natural and inherent right to incorporate in its territory other territories which did not depend on British sovereignty at that time or at any time. Should it be otherwise, then all the countries which have achieved independence from the United Kingdom would also be entitled to incorporate neighbouring territories or countries, even though they have never been under British sovereignty.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  6. “I have gone through the report of the Secretary-General, and my, delegation wishes to bring up some of the many questions dealt with in that document. The first is the "question of Goa", and I am raising it not only because it is of interest to us but also because it raises issues - very important issues — of a general character which I believe the Assembly should consider with attention if we are not to pursue a course of action which will bring about the destruction of the United Nations. 9 . Ever since the Indian Union became an independent and sovereign State in 1947, its Government has claimed Goa, the reason for such a claim being that Goa is geographically contiguous to Indian territory.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  7. “Before we start using this slogan it seems appropriate to know whether the General Assembly represents a united sovereignty, as national parliaments do; and whether the Members of the General Assembly periodically, stand for election, as happens with national parliaments; or whether Members of the Assembly may not be returned and maybe replaced by others, according to their performance and the views; of an electorate which in the case of the United Nations simply does not exist. These few questions show that the General Assembly has no sovereignty of its own, and also show how unrealistic it is — and how dangerous it may become — to be guided by meaningless slogans and to shape our thoughts and decisions accordingly. 8.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  8. “There is only one further point in this context which I venture to mention. The introduction to the report expresses the feeling that the General Assembly should indeed be a world parliament of mankind. It will be extremely dangerous if such an idea becomes one more slogan in the minds of the people. There is not, and there "cannot be, any analogy or connexion between a national parliament and the General Assembly.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  9. “My delegation believes that, there is a very real and serious crisis, which becomes deeper every day, and. if the trend now prevailing goes on much longer it seems hard to see how such a crisis can be surmounted. 6. But there are other very serious problems in the world, threatening the peace and security of all of us, with which the United Nations does not appear to be concerned. I am not going to elaboration them, except to mention the existing threat against the freedom of West Berlin, in violation of international agreements and responsibilities. There is no doubt, therefore, that the Secretary-General has very good reasons to refer to a "crisis of confidence". It is true that he believes that such a crisis may be overcome. On this point; my delegation also wishes to express its views, but I shall come to that later. 7.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  10. “The Secretary-General also points out that, notwithstanding the efforts of the United Nations, the Organization again has failed to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, as required by the Charter. Indeed, the Secretary-General states that it has become abundantly clear that the rate of development has fallen far short of meeting the needs and demands of the peoples. 5. Again, the report mentions the part which the United Nations should play in promoting closer contact among Governments and in shaping decisions of individual Members, and the Secretary-General stresses that all too frequently this purpose has been defeated in the general debate. It should therefore not be a matter for surprise if the Secretary-General speaks of a "crisis of confidence" in the United Nations.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  11. “In the introduction to the report [A/5201/Add.l], the Secretary-General draws our attention to some points the importance of which cannot and should not be under-estimated. I shall refer to some of them. 3. The Secretary-General points out the lack of progress With regard to the problem of disarmament. Now, as Chairman Khrushchev has stated in this hall — and rightly stated, for once — the question of disarmament is the question of questions, and one has to admit that in respect of a problem so vital for the future of mankind the United Nations has failed to help in finding any solution. We have to go even further, and state that the United Nations has been utterly incapable of dealing with the question of disarmament at all. 4.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)

  12. “1. It gives me great pleasure, Mr. President, to join, all those who have congratulated you on your election to the Presidency of the General Assembly. The choice of your name is well-deserved tribute to your high personal qualities and to the outstanding contributions you have made to the work of the highest international organizations. Also, it is a fitting tribute to your great country, with which, I am happy to say, my country has cordial relations of warm friendship. 2. We have before us the report of the Acting Secretary-General on the work of the United Nations during the past year [A/5201]. It is an important document, and I believe we should be grateful to the Secretary-General for drawing lip such a clear and comprehensive summary, thus enabling us to have a vivid picture of the activities of the Organization.”

    1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)