Former External Affairs MinisterNatwar Singh , who was posted at India’s permanent mission at the U.N. in 1965, speaks on the high drama at the Security Council.
In 1965, the Pakistanis had underestimated India militarily. They didn’t succeed, and far from welcoming them, Kashmiris were hostile to Pakistani incursions. India had an upper hand militarily at the time in the 1965 war when U.N. Secretary-General U Thant brought the matter to the Security Council on September 3, 1965. As the first secretary at the Permanent Mission of India at the U.N., I was part of the delegation in the Council hall. Our Permanent Representative to the U.N. was G. Parthasarathi (senior diplomat who later became PM Indira Gandhi’s adviser), and Brajesh Mishra (diplomat who became Principal Secretary and NSA to PM Vajpayee).
First PM Shastri sent M.C. Chagla as our representative, but Bhutto really let him have it and Chagla was no match for Bhutto’s unbridled abuse on Kashmir. Shastri then decided to send his Foreign Minister Sardar Swaran Singh to counter Bhutto. Singh and Bhutto knew each other as they had been in talks for about six months, and Singh had a great gift of being able to speak for a long time, unperturbed by disturbances.
We told Foreign Minister Swaran Singh, “Sir, we have to do something. Mr. Bhutto makes these objectionable speeches, and gets away with it, and we have to send a strong message to the UNSC.” So he said, “what should we do?” Brajesh Mishra and I said, “Let’s walk out the next time he speaks.” Now neither Swaran Singh nor G. Parthasarathi had done anything this unconventional so far. But we persisted, so Swaran Singh called PM Shastri. Shastriji said, “Sardar Sahib you are on the spot, you decide what to do.”
So we decided to wait for Bhutto to start his invective. As soon as he did, Sardar Sahib called a point of order. Bhutto objected. Swaran Singh carried on. At the end of his speech the four of us: Singh, Parthasarathi, Mishra and I stood up and marched out. Even as we walked out, Bhutto said, “Indian dogs are leaving.” But Bhutto’s point-scoring speech was short-sighted, and our walkout had a bigger impact on the UNSC. Stunned by our reaction to Bhutto’s speech, they lost interest in engaging with India and Pakistan on Kashmir.
As a result, there was hardly any reference to Kashmir for the next few decades at the UNSC, barring one resolution after the 1971 war. The credit should really go to Swaran Singh, who decided in that moment to put convention aside and simply walk out of the U.N. Security Council.
