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NEW YORK: The Security Council was yesterday officially convened to meet next week to discuss the Kashmir question. Substantive debate on Kashmir is expected to begin after Pakistan and Indian representatives have made their opening statements. The UN will take up the Kashmir question against the background of intense diplomatic activities. Pakistan has made it clear that it expects positive action on part of the UN to implement the decisions taken as long as 13 years ago. Nothing short of a constructive Security Council resolution on Kashmir would satisfy Pakistan.
After trying in vain to postpone again the Council debate on Kashmir and without any election excuses this time, India seems resigned to discussing Kashmir in the UN. Indian strategy would probably be to cut short the debate and prevent the UN from taking any action on the Kashmir dispute. There are speculations that India might formally withdraw her acceptance of the UNCIP resolutions of 1949.
The attitude of major Powers towards Kashmir is uncertain. Both the US and Britain have let it be known that they stand by their earlier stands on Kashmir. But they have not indicated how they intend to make India carry out its Kashmir pledges.
The Soviet stand, as announced in Geneva recently, seems to be to veto any resolution on Kashmir which has some teeth in it — posting of UN troops for instance. But the Russian veto is more likely to be invoked by India rather than initiated by the Soviet Union on its own.
Two African neutrals, Ghana and the UAR, are keeping their views on Kashmir secret. Ghana, serving the Security Council for the first time, said it was keen to play an important role in the Council and might come forward with its own proposals on Kashmir. UAR’s position remains a mystery. It is likely that the UAR delegate would intervene at a later stage of the Kashmir debate after seeing the trend of discussion. Nationalist China is likely to favour Pakistan, while Chile and Venezuela are likely to go along with any American resolution. —Correspondent
