STOCKHOLM: The plebiscite in Kashmir is “to be held next spring”, according to M. Trygve Lie, UN Secretary-General, who arrived here today [Aug 10] from Oslo. He gave out the information while making a comment on the international situation, which, he said, is “considerably better than it was a year ago”. “I am not saying this because it is a suitable thing to include in my report to the General Assembly, but because it is my considered conclusion after weighing up the situation objectively,” he added. M. Lie said he had been accused of aspiring to the title of “General Admiral” when he suggested the United Nations should appoint 5,000 guards to protect their observers at plebisicites.

“I have since suggested that the number be reduced to 300 and that they be called ‘field personnel’,” he stated. “They would be supplemented by a force of 2,000 men registered and held in reserve by the member states. []Such personnel would be used for example in the plebiscite to be held next spring in Kashmir — the territory disputed by Pakistan and India.”

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024