My Mother — Page 104
104 the United Nations, of whom twenty were Latin Americans. Of the fifteen judges elected, five were nationals of States who were permanent members of the Security Council. Of the remaining ten, four were Latin Americans, which was in exact accord with their proportion in the membership of the United Nations. By 1963 the membership of the United Nations had risen to above one hundred and the number of Latin Americans still stood at twenty. There was a strong feeling that of the three Latin vacan- cies one should be filled by an Asian, one by an African, and one by a Latin. Mr. Fouad Ammoun, Foreign Minister of Lebanon was one of the Asian candidates. I felt that it was worth trying to capture one of the Latin vacancies and my name was proposed as a candidate. Mr. Agha Shahi told me that a senior Lebanese diplomat pass- ing through Karachi had met him and had suggested that—to spare me embarrassment—my name should be withdrawn as they had written promises of support from a majority of the members of the Security Council as well as a majority of the members of the General Assembly and that it was most unlikely that two Asians should be elected. Mr. Agha Shahi observed that the possibility of two Asians being elected could not be excluded. For a candidate to be elected, a majority both of the members of the Security Council and the members of the General Assembly was required. At the time the membership of the Security Council was limited to eleven, so that six formed a majority. In the first ballot for the election—sure enough—Mr. Ammoun obtained a majority in both Chambers, and so did I, with this difference that in the Security Council he had seven votes and I had six. Thus,