The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 223
207 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN apprehensive than we were before he spoke. He was not only very rigid on the questions of Berlin, Disarmament, nuclear tests and Cuba, but on Berlin and Cuba he seemed to utter veiled threats. I did not feel, when I was listening to him, that this was just propaganda. I have an apprehension, certainly with reference to Berlin, that the Soviets have come to some decision with regard to the timetable of what they intend to do: for instance, a separate treaty with East Germany, and leaving West Berlin to settle questions of access, etc. with the East German Government. Should that happen, it would give rise to major problems affecting the maintenance of international peace. Also, with regard to Cuba, the words and tone were menacing. One realizes, on the other hand, the situation with regard to Cuba vis-a-vis the United States of America and the South American states, especially those that are around the Caribbean. It is too early to make an assessment, but I had a sense of uneasiness at the end of that speech. On decolonization, we shall probably not be able to go very much further than we did last year. Portugal seems determined to hold the line, as it were, with regard to Angola and Mozambique. The outcome is still in the dark. On the other hand, the Afro-Asians are determined to press the matter forward. A resolution of the type that was carried last year will be carried again this year, but it will be wise of Portugal to take note of the mounting indignation among the Afro-Asian countries over its attitude. Nobody is likely to be deceived by the fiction that Angola and Mozambique are a part of metropolitan Portugal. This kind of theory was advanced by France with regard to Algeria, and it did not help towards a solution of the situation at all. It is open to everybody to go and see for themselves. If territories were part of metropolitan Portugal, the people would be treated like any other section of the Portuguese people. They are not so treated. A little is perhaps being attempted by way of providing educational facilities and roads etc. , and possibly a handful of Angolese are being trained for better positions in the administration, but that's not the end of the matter by any means. It is not even the beginning of a solution. Of all colonial problems, probably that is likely to raise more heat and dust than any other. Southern Rhodesia is another very difficult problem, and the difficulty is enhanced by the constitutional position. Southern Rhodesia, though not independent and sovereign, is, under the