The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 246
230 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN happened, to Denmark, Finland, the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, were in pursuance of invitations which had been extended during the Session or earlier. Question : And in each of these visits to the various states were you consulted or did you discuss the role of those particular nations in the United Nations; that is, did you also go as someone who would be advocating or discussing with the foreign offices the United Nations ? Zafrulla : No, I had no particular problems in mind when I started, and I did not make notes: I shall discuss this in Copenhagen or that in Moscow, or this in Cairo or that in Rabat. But, naturally, questions arose; either they wanted to know something from me or I wanted to know something from them. For instance, while I was in Kampala, Uganda, they showed me several of their institutions, took me to their refugee camps for refugees from Rwanda, whom they were trying to resettle, and they related some of their problems to me which were not directly connected with the Assembly but where the United Nations could help. I undertook, not specifically in my capacity as President but as a person who was connected with the United Nations in a certain capacity to assist. Two of their problems involved my stopping in Geneva in my effort to assist them and I was happy to do whatever I could. But my object in these visits was not to have any United Nations problems resolved or to offer my good offices with reference to any particular problem, but just to make contacts, to get to know people, see them, and discuss with them their attitudes, policies, etc. Question : When you ceased to be President of the General Assembly and returned to your role as Permanent Representative of Pakistan in the United Nations, what sort of tapering-off experiences did you find? Did you find that the wealth of goodwill which you had built up as President of the General Assembly was just part of your growth and friendship within the United Nations or whether people attributed to you a good deal more power and authority than you previously had. Zafrulla : In the first place, there was no sort of a break with my position as Permanent Representative and then resumption of that position; the two were held together. The Presidency is, of course, a very honourable office, an office of dignity, but it is an honorary office, and in a sense it is expensive both for the holder of the office and for his government. But one carries on in both capacities. As a matter of fact, on one occasion the question arose even with the protocol in the United