The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 202
186 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN would assume ownership of their properties. The problem of the refugees could be put out of the way in that manner and the way would be opened for a settlement on the status of the City of Jerusalem and the frontiers. But, again, the attitude of the State of Israel is: "What we have got we shall keep, and the Arabs must just accept the situation. " It is not easy to work out a settlement on that basis. It is one of those very unfortunate situations which I am afraid, is going to plague us for a long time to come. Another group of questions in which Pakistan has been very keenly interested is decolonisation. It played a very prominent role in the disposal of the ex-Italian colonies, and took a leading part in the discussion of the problem of Tunisia and Morocco, and later of Algeria. It has naturally been very keenly interested, being itself an undeveloped country, in all efforts in the economic field for the raising of the standard of living in the under-developed countries, and towards economic development. Pakistan has been a member of the Economic and Social Council. Our representative on the Council, Syed Amjad Ali, who subsequently became our Ambassador in Washington, was also during one session, President of the Economic and Social Council. On the whole, even before we became parties to treaties with some of the Western powers, our policy was one of support of freedom and liberal doctrines and attitudes. Our relationship with the Western powers has always been friendly. Then came our treaty relationship with some of them, as evidenced by SEATO and CENTO. It has sometimes been said that under those treaties we have not only undertaken certain specific obligations, on a mutual basis, but that we have let the Western powers establish bases in Pakistan. There are no bases of any power, Western or Eastern, in Pakistan. We have only treaty relationships within the framework of the United Nations with some of the Western powers. In that context, perhaps I might make this one comment: Pakistan is somewhat puzzled with regard to the attitude of the United States towards that kind of relationship. The tendency, which has been freely expressed since the death of Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, by President Eisenhower and even more clearly by President Kennedy, has been to regard Non-alignment as the more acceptable position, and