DECEMBER 10, 1958(1)
MY DELEGATION DID NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE in the explanation of votes before the vote was taken in view of the virtually unanimous agreement on the draft resolution.(2)
My Government desires to state not so much our position as our feelings and reactions on this matter. They are of a very mixed character. First of all, my delegation and Government feel extremely grateful to the majority of the members of the Assembly for the support they have given in this problem over the years, those who today made up this aggregate of sixty-nine votes. But that feeling is very much tempered by the fact that there is one vote that is necessary in order for us to fulfil the purposes of the Charter or to work with it, and that is the vote of the Union of South Africa. No delegation regrets more than we do the absence of that delegation from these discussions. It is not because we think that if they had come to this meeting they would have voted for the draft resolution, but because I know that we will not get a solution to this problem in the hearts and minds of those who are responsible for the Government of the Union; and while that change would come largely from within, we believe that the effect of public opinion throughout the world, as expressed by the votes in this Assembly, will be a great contributing factor.
Next, it comes to our mind that, since this item comes up here year after year, like a hardy perennial, inevitably a kind of feeling of fatigue is likely to rise in us, and we may not give it the degree of attention that is required in view of the vast suffering which is imposed upon half a million people within the Union of South Africa who are affected by this resolution. I want to beg of my colleagues that they regard this vote that they have cast as something of a moral message to the people who, without any outside assistance, without force of arms, without violence, but against laws that inhibit every aspect of liberty and that are contrary to the purposes of the Charter, are putting up - men and women - a heroic resistance in the tradition of the great founder of this resistance movement.
We also want to express not so much our regret as our sadness at the fact that there were ten abstentions on this resolution, this issue upon which no one can be neutral. Our country has been accused of neutrality on many issues, but we have never been found neutral when the issue of human rights or human liberty were involved. We fully recognise the reasons for the abstentions; usually there are nineteen abstentions, but this year it has come down to ten. We hope the time will come when it is realised that the alteration in the number of these abstentions - and in the positive vote - will have the effect that I spoke of in the beginning, the effect of bringing about a change in the hearts and minds of the South African Government, of the Union of South Africa...
We further regret that some of these abstentions come from countries which not only have diplomatic and friendly relations with us but which are very close to us; and therefore we cannot speak in anger - we never would - but only in sorrow. This resolution is not merely a vote; it is a message to the people of South Africa who have no voice but the voice of this Assembly. If year after year we adopt only a weak resolution and thereby give the impression to the world that we have salved our consciences, it will do more harm than good, but I am sure that is not the case...
NOW WE COME TO THE FACT that the delegation of India has voted for this resolution. The text has only asked for negotiations, which are enjoined upon us together with the Government of Pakistan and the Government of the Union of South Africa. I have been asked by my Government to say that, irrespective of all the developments that have taken place, irrespective of treaty violations, irrespective of the violation of human rights and of affronts to our own nationality and our dignity, we would, in the spirit of this resolution and not introducing any extraneous matter, genuinely seek negotiations with South Africa.
As we did last year, we pledge the word of our Government that we intend, as soon as a few weeks have passed, allowing the Union of South Africa sufficient time to receive this resolution, to approach the Government of the Union of South Africa again - although we have no diplomatic relations with it - in order to enter into negotiations, without making any commitments in regard to the juridical position and at the same time making it quite clear that we do not propose to throw the United Nations overboard in this matter. It is for these reasons that I have taken the time of the Assembly, after the voting has taken place, to explain the position of my Government.
(1) Statement on "Treatment of People of Indian Origin in the Union of South Africa".
Source: Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirteenth Session, Plenary Meetings, page 468
(2) Iran, Mexico, Philippines and Yugoslavia proposed a draft resolution which was approved by the General Assembly on December 10, 1958, by 69 votes to none, with 10 abstentions, as resolution 1302(XIII). It expressed regret that South Africa had not agreed to negotiations with India and Pakistan; appealed to South Africa to enter into negotiations; and invited Member States to use their good offices to bring about negotiations.