Office of the Historian

772.00/4–252

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Officer in Charge, Pakistan–Afghanistan Affairs (Metcalf)

confidential
[Washington,] April 2, 1952.

Subject:

  • Pakistan Sponsorship of the Tunisian Case in the Security Council

Participants:

  • H. E. Mohammed Ali, Ambassador of Pakistan
  • SOA—Mr. D. D. Kennedy
  • —Mr. Lee E. Metcalf

Mr. Mohammed Ali called this morning on instructions from his government officially to inform the Department of State that the Pakistan Government is taking steps to place the Tunisian case on the agenda of the Security Council at an early date.1 After delivering his message the Ambassador read the text of a telegram from the Foreign Office to the effect that the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Sir Zafrulla Khan, had very recently told the French Ambassador in Karachi that, in the absence of a reply from the French Government to certain questions put to it by the Pakistan Government, the latter had no other alternative but to proceed according to plan.

Before taking his departure, Mohammed Ali asked what he could report to his government to be the reaction of the State Department to Pakistan’s decision. Mr. Kennedy countered by asking what Pakistan thought might be gained by presenting the case at this time. The Ambassador replied that any sign of advance in the progressive realization [Page 709] of Tunisia’s national aspirations is the desired objective, adding that it is his personal opinion that if the Security Council became seized of the issue the Tunisian people would be less likely to take direct action in the matter. The discussion was concluded with a comment by Mr. Kennedy to the effect that while there was a time for everything, in his opinion the timing of the Tunisian item on the Security Council agenda was unfortunate.

  1. A memorandum of a telephone conversation by Elting reported Cory had called from New York at 11:15 a.m. on Apr. 2 to report that Pakistan had requested that the Tunisian case be brought to the Security Council. The Secretariat had received communications from a number of the Arab-Asian countries requesting an urgent meeting of the Security Council. (651.72/4–252)↩