Nepal

It is my privilege to convey to the President and to my fellow representatives the greetings of my sovereign King Mahendra, of His Majesty's Government and of the people of Nepal, along with their best wishes for the success of this session of the General Assembly. It was the intention of my Prime Minister, Mi. K. I. Singh, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to come here to participate in the work of this session, but, due to the pressing duties of administration at home, he could not be here. He has asked me to convey his apologies to you on this account. 37. At the very outset, permit me to congratulate Sir Leslie Munro, on his election to the high office of President of the twelfth session of the General Assembly. His long experience in the work of the United Nations, combined with his personal merit and ability, amply qualify him for the office he now holds. My delegation has not the slightest doubt that he will carry out his responsibilities and duties in a manner befitting the dignity of the office. I also wish to take this opportunity to put on record, on behalf of my Government and delegation, our warm appreciation of the memorable services of his predecessor in office, His Royal Highness, Prince Wan Waithayakon. Against the foreboding background of events that aroused fear, hatred and passions among nations, Prince Wan guided with great wisdom, restraint and skill the proceedings of the eleventh session which proved to be, in the opinion of many, the most onerous and exciting since the inception of the United Nations. 38. Now that the storm has passed and the passions it aroused have at least temporarily subsided, all kinds of opinion and criticism are being voiced about the record and achievement of the United Nations in handling the problems that confronted it last year. These opinions and criticisms have one characteristic in common: they do not quite seem to recognize the United Nations for what it is, and they seem to disregard completely the practical difficulties and limitations inherent in its very structure, as provided for in the Charter itself. They therefore predict a dark and dismal future for the Organization unless something is done to remedy the defects inherent in it. 39. It is said that the equal weight of voting which is granted to small nations may lead to the abuse of this right on account of the apparent lack of responsibility on their part, and thus prevent a sort of representative solution of the problems in the real sense. Sometimes, too, it is said that the United Nations could have achieved much more in a positive way, had it only chosen to make full use of the opportunity offered by the creation of the United Nations Emergency Force to bring about the permanent settlement of the Palestine refugee question which lies at the root of Arab-Israel conflict. The United Nations is also accused of adopting double standards on the ground that it has been comparatively helpless against the bigger Powers that have so far been able to disregard its recommendations with impunity. These and other kinds of criticism seem to make out a case for the re-examination of the inherent limitations and powers of the Organization in the light of its experience since the days of San Francisco. 40. It is to be remembered that, ever since its inception, the United Nations has been engaged in the task of supervising what may be described as an uneasy peace and what has been at best the absence of fighting, and sometimes not even that. For example, it has intervened in Korea, in Kashmir or in Gaza in the Middle East. True enough, the United Nations action in this field has been largely pragmatic and ad hoc, but it could not have been otherwise. 41. The Charter took for granted co-operation among the Big Five as a condition of the successful working of the United Nations, but such co-operation was only short-lived. The founders of the United Nations recognized the necessity of having military forces at its disposal, and it was this realization that led them to write into the Charter provisions which they hoped would bring into being a collective force. Over the years, however, the idea did not materialize because of the deadlock in the Military Staff Committee, as early as 1947, among the great Powers themselves. 42. Their lack of agreement on the question of individual contributions to the force spelled the end of the era of wartime co-operation, which was replaced by the distrust, suspicions and dissensions of the "cold war". No special agreements could be drawn up by the Security Council and other Members as envisaged in Article 43 of the Charter. Still, the Council's interventions did help the situation and brought about happy results for peace in Iran, Greece, Indonesia, Kashmir and Palestine. The pattern of the United Nations action in Korea, though made effective by two accidents in history which might not occur again - absence of the most interested permanent member, with its veto, from the Security Council, and the earlier presence of a United Nations commission at the trouble spot — illustrates the possibility of using the United Nations for collective security, though in effect the use of the United Nations forces in Korea was more symbolic than real. 43. Since then, it has become increasingly clear to the world that he permanent members of the Security Council, or the great Powers, are not willing to make their decisions subservient even to a collective judgement when their own political interests are at stake. The veto has been used so very often that it has rendered the original plan of collective security through the Security Council almost impossible of realization. This has brought into vogue the method of referring to the General Assembly what the Council is unable to resolve, and has also given rise to the demand, on the part of many Member States, for other kinds of force than that provided for under Article 43 of the Charter. 44. The review of the available collective security machinery by the Members of the United Nations against the background of the developments in Korea caused the adoption, in 1950, of the famous "Uniting for peace" resolution [377 (V)]. the potentiality of which was proved in meeting the challenge which the events in the Middle East and Eastern Europe provided to the United Nations last fall. Thus did the General Assembly come to be used for security purposes only after the Security Council had failed to perform its primary function on account of the use of the veto by one or the other of the permanent members. However, even now, there is nothing in the resolution that will interfere with the effectiveness of the action of the Security Council if only the Council shows itself capable of action. 45. Certainly it is not the small Powers that are to blame for the veto provision in the Charter or for the failure of the Security Council to act for security purposes. The big Powers insisted on the right of veto for themselves at San Francisco, and the small Powers yielded in recognition of the influence of the greater Powers in matters affecting international security and well-being. Again, in subsequent years, it has been the attitude and the action of the big Powers that have rendered the Security Council almost incapable of performing the primary function assigned to it by the Charter. The Assembly has no power of enforcement and can only act by recommendation. In these circumstances, it would certainly be unfair to blame the equal voting right given to small nations in the Assembly, or their increasing numbers, for the ineffectiveness of United Nations action. 46. In this connexion, the remark of the Secretary-General, in the introduction to his annual report, merits special consideration: "The General Assembly is not a parliament of elected individual members; it is a diplomatic meeting in which the delegates of Member States represent governmental policies, and these policies are subject to all the influences that would prevail in international life in. any case." [A/3594/Add.1, p.3.] 47. It is because of the failure of the Security Council that the General Assembly is being compelled to arrogate to itself functions for which it is not adequately equipped with powers in the Charter, and which it therefore can discharge only in a pragmatic and ad hoc manner. Nevertheless, in terms of moral force and effect, the Assembly’s recommendations, if made in a responsible spirit and if followed by all ~ of course, two big "ifs” — would carry as much weight as those of the Security Council, perhaps more. Hence the necessity for making available some machinery which might ensure their implementation. 48. The new role that has devolved upon the Assembly appeared in full light when the events that occurred in the Middle East and in Hungary last fall imposed on it the responsibilities for pea. e supervision. The Assembly, not having any precedent or any appropriate organization, was ill-prepared to undertake this responsibility. It was in the midst of the excitement and anxiety caused by the crisis in the Middle East that it adopted a resolution [998 (ES-I)] empowering the Secretary-General to organize a United Nations Emergency Force within forty-eight hours. Thanks to the indefatigable energy and skill of the Secretary-General and his assistance, the Force came into existence almost at once. 49. It will be admitted on all sides that the Force proved to be very effective for the purpose for which it was created — the securing and supervising of a cease-fire. It was a Force which was created for limited purposes and, as such it was different in character from the kind of force envisaged in the Charter. But, while it was not entirely based on a new concept of United Nations supervisory action, it certainly implied an enlarged concept. 50. Whatever might have been the criticisms, the intervention of the United Nations through an emergency force in November 1956 certainly brought about the acceptance of a cease-fire and the subsequent withdrawal of the Anglo-French and Israel forces from Egyptian territory. Its action also reinforced the need on the part of the United Nations to equip itself better to meet such contingencies in the future. 51. Though it might not be possible for Governments to provide the United Nations with a fighting force so organized as to be employed on the decision of the Security Council, there does not appear to be any difficulty for them in apportioning a small section of their armed forces for use by the United Nations for peaceful and non-combatant purposes such as securing a cease-fire already agreed upon by the belligerents. 52. Let us hope that the lessons of last year's events will not be lost and that Member nations will not lightly dismiss the possibility of achieving something more concrete in this direction. The creation of a permanent mechanism by which units of the armed forces of the Member nations can be endowed with the authority of the United Nations and made available at short notice will strengthen the hope and confidence of all peoples in the United Nations as an instrument for securing their rights and freedom. 53. The devolution of those new responsibilities to the General Assembly has made the role and function of the Secretary-General more difficult and complicated, but at the same time more important in the structure and activity of the United Nations. The General Assembly has to rely increasingly on the executive for the implementation of its decisions and even for the interpretation of the finer points and intentions of its recommendations. The concept of the Secretary-General has undergone a change, as clearly shown by the part he was called upon to play by the General Assembly on its behalf in the settlement of the crisis in the Middle East and Eastern Europe last year. He no longer remains an administrator charged merely with keeping the service operations of the Secretariat in a state of efficiency, but has also to afford initiative when the situation calls for it. 54. At the present moment, this Organization has been fortunate enough to have as the Secretary-General a man who combines the qualities of a diplomat and a statesman with a high sense of mission, thus producing a remarkable characteristic of complete detachment, coupled with a rare sensitivity of touch with events and persons. With the President’s permission, I wish to take this opportunity to felicitate Mr. Hammarskjold on his re-election as Secretary-General; this is, in itself, a proof of the growing confidence and esteem in which he is held by the peoples all the world over. 55. The Charter empowers only the Security Council to order the use of force for the maintenance or restoration of international peace. All that the "Uniting for peace" resolution seeks to do is to enable the General Assembly, in the event of the paralysis of the Security Council, to make appropriate recommendations to Member States "for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security". Thus, in the case of an armed attack falling under the terms of Article 51 of the Charter, the General Assembly may recommend that Member States come to the rescue of the victim in every possible way, even by means of economic sanctions and military aid. But it leaves to the option of the Member States to implement or not to implement the Assembly's recommendations, inasmuch as there is nothing that makes the Assembly's recommendations legally binding on them. 56. Judged in this context, the inherent limitations in the Assembly's action with regard to the crises of last fall in Egypt and Hungary can be better realized. We have already seen that the Assembly's resolutions on the Middle East did secure the cease-fire and bring about the withdrawal of foreign troops from Egypt. But even with regard to the situation in Hungary, the Assembly has done all that it could to keep the question of Hungary before world public opinion. 57. To those who were inclined from the beginning to believe that the Assembly's action on Hungary would be altogether futile, may I pose a simple and direct question: If the Assembly had passed over in silence the intolerable situation that occurred in Hungary last fall as a result of foreign armed intervention, would it have redounded to the credit of the United Nations in any way? Would such a course of action have better served the cause of peace, humanity and the freedom of smaller nations? In my opinion, such an attitude of timidity or inaction on the part of the United Nations would have seriously damaged its reputation as an organization pledged primarily to secure the freedom and rights of every Member nation. 58. Because we have failed, for the reasons discussed at length in the earliest part of my statement, to evolve a military arrangement for collective security, must we also desist from the unhindered expression of collective opinion and also from the limited exercise of collective influence and authority in the exclusively moral sphere of judgement and faith in the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter? 59. It is true that international politics does not always operate on the basis of morality, but if the United Nations does not abide by its faith in the force and efficacy of the collective moral judgement, it will certainly not be true to its own high principles and purposes. Individual countries, in spite of their profession of high principles, may still in practice be affected by considerations of fear and gain in their assessment of international issues. But it will be a sad day indeed for the believers in the freedom of the smaller nations and the peace of the world if the United Nations, representing as it does the collective moral judgement of the world, feels compelled, for whatever reasons, to accept, without demur, the sacrifice of the freedom of a small Member nation as a pawn in the devilish chess game of international politics which has of late been played, without restraint or shame, out of selfish interests, by various blocs groups, acting and reacting on each other. 60. The cause of the freedom of the small nations has always been dear to us, because in our own history we have prized freedom more than anything else. Our hearts naturally reach out to the people of Hungary in the hour of their trial and suffering. Theirs has been a tragic plight indeed. The tragedy of Hungary has a real and living significance for the 9 million people of Nepal. Behind it is their deep-rooted consciousness that what has happened to Hungary may happen to any small nation anywhere in the world. The uprising in Hungary was a "spontaneous nationalist rising", the entire episode being "a great human tragedy". This is the considered opinion on the subject of a highly detached and impartial observer of world affairs, of no less a man than the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Nehru, whose words carry weight with people everywhere. May we still hope and expect that the Soviet Union will withdraw its troops from Hungary, thereby leading the people of Hungary free to work out their destiny in accordance with their own national aspirations. 61. The events of the past years have made the role of the United Nations clear to everybody. It is not a super-State which can always enforce compliance with its decisions. Its function and activity are necessarily limited within the framework of the decisions of the Member States. Its real usefulness, however, lies in the sphere of multilateral diplomacy as an instrument of negotiation among the Governments and for the Governments. It is an instrument of diplomacy for concerting action by Governments in pursuance of the ideals of the Charter. The United Nations does not merely serve as a forum for public debates on international issues; its institutions also provide for the process of adjustment and conciliation, often resulting in solutions that may not be entirely satisfying to the parties concerned, yet cause no embarrassment or loss of face to any one of them. 62. Let us recognize the United Nations for what it is, for nothing more and nothing less, and, as our Secretary-General has himself described it, as "an admittedly imperfect but indispensable instrument of nations in working for a peaceful evolution towards a more just and secure social order"., [A/3594/Add.1, p.3.] 63. His Majesty’s Government in Nepal has always pledged Itself to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter and to abide by them in its dealings with the other nations of the world. The other well-known declarations of the principles and tenets of international conduct such as the pancha shila or the Bandung declaration, to which Nepal has also been a party, do not contain a thing which is not already embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. All that the afore-mentioned declarations do is to reinforce, in a different context, the same principles of good conduct among nations which have been known to the world since the days of the Kellogg-Briand Pact or even before that. We feel that these declarations are not so much important in themselves as in their actual implementation. If only all Members of the United Nations sought to respect in practice the principles and decisions of the United Nations, for good or for worse, the international problems could take care of themselves. 64. My Government believes Li maintaining peace and friendship with all nations and in a policy of non-alignment with any one of the international power blocs. We do not want to commit ourselves beforehand to support one bloc or the other in the event of differences or war between them. This, however, does not mean that we are shirking responsibility or sitting on the fence. We merely wish to retain our independence of judgement even as a small nation. Of course, when there is a choice between good and evil, or right and wrong, we certainly know what to choose, and our history is in itself a proof of our capacity of judgement in such a situation. We believe in assessing every international issue on its merits, without consideration of anybody's fear or favour. We feel that this is the way we can contribute most to the work of the United Nations. Furthermore, we are, as a nation, less hindered in the. exercise of our moral judgement, not only because we follow an independent foreign policy but also because we have far fewer commitments and no disputes as compared to bigger nations. 65. We have been just over one year at the United Nations, and during this short period we have always abided by the same moral standard of judgement in assessing events everywhere in the world, be they in the Middle East or in Eastern Europe. We deplored the Anglo-French-Israel action in Egypt last fall as strongly as the Soviet action in Hungary. We do not approve of foreign interference in the affairs of any nation, let alone armed intervention. We stand by self-determination for all people and believe in the right of every nation to work out its destiny free from external pressure and interference. We regard imperialism as a manifestation of desire on the part of a richer and more powerful nation to dominate the affairs of another nation by exploiting the comparative helplessness of the latter's position in every possible way. We are opposed to imperialism of every kind or colour, be it overseas or overland, be it white, red, yellow, brown or black. 66. We are in fullest sympathy with the aspirations of the nationalist freedom movement everywhere in Asia and Africa. We view all these freedom movements as a part of the great awakening in Asia and Africa which occurred in the wake of the Second World War. We have good reason to believe that the same process of awakening and change that has already worked out so well in the case of several countries will result in the transformation of the existing dependent and colonial territories into independent statehoods or nationhoods. 67. We were happy to welcome Ghana to membership of the United Nations last year, and this year we had the pleasure of welcoming Malaya. We feel that the addition of new Members will make the United Nations more representative and universal in character, and to that extent more effective. That is also the reason why we have always pleaded for the recognition of the People's Republic of China, without whose willing cooperation and consent no lasting political settlement in the Far East is possible. 68. We are interested in the political renaissance of Asia and Africa because the political change in Nepal herself is related to the general awakening in Asia. The achievement of independence by India, along with other countries in that region, strengthened and helped the efforts of the King and the people of Nepal to introduce democracy in the country. 69. The role of monarchy in ushering in the new era of democratic freedom in Nepal is unique. History has many an instance of a brave, talented and generous ruler, but never in history had there been a king who, along with all the members of his family, staked his life and throne in order to secure the democratic rights and freedom of this people. With the time-honoured institution of monarchy itself serving as the sheet anchor of democracy, Nepal, confident of its future, is marching shoulder to shoulder with other countries of the region, on the path of freedom and progress. 70. The entire world pinned high hopes on the successful outcome of the talks that were recently going on in London at the meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission. Once again the talks were abandoned rather abruptly and the great Powers have thought it fit to refer the matter to the General Assembly. However, it is really heartening to read in the statement [685th meeting] of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, Mr. Lloyd, that these talks have not yet been abandoned and that there are still chances of agreement on the subject between the great Powers. We agree with the British Foreign Secretary that it would be naive to expect that the disarmament problem could be solved without a spirit of healthy realism and without taking into account the true nature of the world situation. 71. Talks about disarmament both conventional and nuclear without prior agreement among the big Powers on an international system of inspection, do not sound realistic enough in the conditions of the present day world. To our mind, what will help is the replacement of the existing atmosphere of fear and suspicion by the all-round growth of goodwill and understanding, especially between the great Powers, whose efforts alone can solve this problem of disarmament. 72. Conscious as we are of the limited role we can play in the solution of this problem, we appeal to the great Powers to come to some sort of permanent agreement on the various aspects of the disarmament problem in the larger interests of peace and humanity. The world has waited in vain over the past ten years for the successful outcome of the disarmament talks. Nothing will fill the peoples of the world with greater hope and confidence in the future of the United Nations than the achievement at this session of any real further step towards agreement on this question of disarmament.