The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 222
206 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN Khan : I do not think so. I do not think it affected a single vote. People were surprised and some were amused over what had happened. Some felt sympathy towards Ambassador Malaesekra that he was put in a position of embarrassment. But I do not believe the incident affected a single vote. The situation before that letter became public was almost exactly what the actual voting disclosed. It is now obvious that it could not affect adversely those who were supporting him because the main group of his supporters was the Eastern European group, plus Cuba, and they were opposed to the West anyhow. As this letter contained several reflections adverse to the West, they rather rejoiced in it. The Western group, as a whole, were not very favourable to Ambassador Malalesekara's candidacy anyhow. Question: You mentioned Cambodia and Laos and some of the other countries as supporting him. Was this on religious grounds, or. . . ? Khan : Ceylon's relationship with those countries was, on account of their religious and cultural ties, closer than Pakistan's. So in a way they would feel they were closer to Ambassador Malalesekara. Question : What about the problems facing the current Session of the United Nations and the general atmosphere within the Assembly ? Khan : The problems are well known. There is, of course, the cluster of problems connected with the Cold War, some of which are on the agenda and possibly some others may be added. Some that are not on the agenda continue to cast their shadow on the work of the Assembly and its approach towards the questions on the agenda. For instance, the Berlin question is not before the United Nations, but everybody is conscious of it; and though it is in the background, it affects the attitude of at least some members towards some items on the agenda. Then, there is the question of Disarmament, which is pressing more and more upon the consciousness of the delegates. Then there is the financial provision for peace-keeping operations, in which context the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice will come under consideration and let us hope will be accepted and endorsed by the Assembly. The colonial question, and the question of the quicker development of the resources of the developing countries are two of the major questions: some of the other items are offshoots from these. On the maintenance of international peace and Cold-war problems, the speech of Foreign Minister Gromyko yesterday left many of us more