Office of the Historian

UNP files, lot 59 D 237, “Membership”

Memorandum of Conversation, by Senator J. W. Fulbright of the United States Delegation to the General Assembly

confidential
[New York,] October 7, 1954.
  • Subject:
  • Membership
  • Participants:
  • Mr. Menon—India
  • Mr. Singh—India
  • Senator Fulbright—US
  • Mr. Joseph Sisco—US (in part)

Mr. Menon stated that the conference was to be strictly personal and unofficial and exploratory in nature. He was not making any commitments nor asking for them. Mr. Menon did practically all of the talking.

I indicated to him practically verbatim the substance of Gadel 22. His response was that it was an official document and not to be considered very seriously. The point he was seeking to make was that the membership matter, if it is to be resolved at all must be resolved by mutual agreement, not by votes. If the stalemate on admission is to be broken, it must be broken by agreement between Russia and the US. He made no formal proposal, but the implication from his statement was that India is in a position to be the intermediary in working out agreements which would lead to a solution of the membership problem.

Mr. Menon paid the US the compliment of saying that he would trust our word if it were given. As he sees it, the veto on this matter should not be abolished. I understand his position to be that he would oppose the abolition of the veto on membership problems. The whole thing must be worked out by agreement. He stressed that it will and can be worked out when Russia and the US feel that it is politically desirable to do so and there is no need of considering abolition of the veto. He believes in the veto on this and other matters.

I did not raise with Mr. Menon their reaction to our non-member participation proposal. On his own initiative Mr. Menon brought it up and said that he was opposed to it. The only way is by agreement.

Mr. Singh stressed to Mr. Sisco that in their view the way to attack this problem is to direct our efforts toward doing something about full membership rather than proposals for non-member participation.