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48
Nations, and this latest war explosion
between Pakistan and India.
We were driven to the United Na–
tions office building in New York. l'm
sure you've seen many pictures of it.
It is a long, somewhat narrow rectangu–
lar building of sorne 34
Roors.
The
chief executive offices are on the top
Roor.
At the south end of the Roor we
found Mr. Adam Malik, President of
the General Assembly, smiling, coming
out of his office into his reception room
to greet us. After meeting his chief
aides, we walked with
him
into his prí–
vate office.
Mr. Malik is also Minister of For–
eign Affairs of Indonesia, lifth largest
country in the world . He mentioned
immediately that he was aware of our
visits to Indonesia, and he regretted
that circumstances had intervened three
times to prevent the meeting between
President Suharto and myself.
Me.
Malik invited me to visit Dja–
karta again at a time when he would
be there, and he would personally see
that the meeting with President Suharto
is not prevented again.
When 1 informed Mr. Malik that the
first major scientific expedition of King
Leopold's Belgian Foundation, in which
Ambassador College is joint partici–
pant, was planned for the Indonesian
portion of New Guinea, in the autumn
of 1972, he was much pleased and
offcred to assist in making whatever ar–
rangements might be necessary.
In regard to admission of Red China
into the United Nations, Mr. Malik
said it was, of course, unfortunate that
Taiwan (Formosa) was expelled upon
entry of the People's Republic. But he
felt it was impossible to keep the most
populous nation on earth out of the
United Nations any longer, in the light
of their tremendous population and in–
fluence in the Far East, as well as world–
wide. Since Generalissimo Chiang Kai–
shek has never relinquished hi s claim
to the mainland, it would have been
very difficult for the two Chinese dele–
gations to co-exist in the U. N.
Although the Red China delegation to
the United Nations, unfortunately, have
not in their initial meetings in New
York shown a very cooperative spirit,
Mr. Malik said he hoped that after
this perhaps inauspicious beginning,
The
PLAIN TRUTH
things will settle clown and the People's
Republic will hopefully enter into an
era of cooperation. However, he con–
tinued, Red China has already appointed
delegates to five important commissions
with permanent headquarters at the
Geneva Headquarters of the U. N. and
they have been cooperating there.
Me.
Malik was not very hopeful about
the Pakistan crisis. He was hoping to be
able to return to Indonesia on or about
December 21, and remain until the
1972 autumn session of the U. N. He
thought it more likely there would have
to
b~
emergency sessions of the General
Assembly beause of this crisis.
Two days later, the crisis became
WAR!
1 told Mr. Malik of my personal in–
terest in the U. N. - of how 1 attended
the entire weeks-long San Francisco Con–
ference in 1945, when the Charter was
drawn up. Also 1 attended the opening
session of the Security Council at Hunt·
er College in New York City, and the
25th anniversary of the San Francisco
Conference in 1970.
1 found Mr. Malik most friendly.
He was already familiar with Ambassa–
dor College and
7'he
PLAIN TRUTH, and
said he was very impressed witb our
worldwide work in the interest of world
peace and a better life for all peoples,
and with our cooperation in the educa–
tional work in Thailand, Nepal, and
other countries. 1 felt it was a mutually
profitable meeting.
My Talk With Mr. Narasimhan
After the meeting with Mr. Malik,
Me.
Rader and I walked clown the long
corridor to the suite of offices at the
northern end of the Aoor. As mentioned
above, the Secreta')' General, Mr. U
Thant, was ill but the Under Secretary–
General, Mr.
C.
V. Narasimhan, was
expecting us. He is from New Delhi,
India. And, since we already have be–
come acquainted with President V. V.
Giri, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Dr.
Singh, President Giri's Executive Secre–
tary and a world leader in the move–
ment for world peace through Inter–
national Law, besides many other leaders
of India, we had interests in common.
Mr.
Narasimhan is only the second
Under Secretary-General in the histo.ry
of the United Nations. He has been
j anuary
1972
serving m that capacity for ten years.
Since Secretary-General U Thant's
term expires December 31 ( 1971),
1
asked about the succession problem to
that office.
After hearing the almost impossible
and unreasonable criteria established by
the United Nations to quaüfy a candi–
date for that office,
1
decided it must
be the most difficult office to fill in aH
the world.
lt
is one of the most important posts
in the world. Great emphasis is placed
on the candidate's religion, race, birth
place, citizenship, parentage, etc., with
much less emphasis placed on his abili–
ties and real quali.fications for so im–
portant a post.
No one could be acceptable if a citi–
zen of one of the major powers. Russia
would object to having a man in the
office who is a citizen of the United
States. All the Arab nations would ob·
ject if he were Jewish. Protestants might
object if he is a Catholic, and other
religions might object if he were Prot–
estant. It almost seemed as if the candi–
date ought to be a man without a coun–
try, without parents, without religion
and still not an atheist or agnostic, of
a blend of all colors and races, and
who was born in no country on earth.
( At press time it was announced that
Kurt Waldheim was chosen.)
Mr. Narasimhan explained that the
nations place such strong emphasis on
these qualilications due to fear that a
man rnight be chosen who had preju–
dices which would militate against the
(selfish) interests of a particular bloc
of nations, or against even an individ–
ual nation.
1
would suggest that these criteria
are merely a mirror reflection of the
prejudices and bias of those member
nations towards certain types of indi–
viduals, or even other nations. Mr.
Narasimhan could not be a successor to
U Thant because he comes from India
- and India is too large a country.
1 asked if he would continue on as
Undcr Secretary-General. That, he
explained, would depend on the wishes
of whoever is elected to succeed U
Thant.
Mr. Narasimhan told us he began
his career with the United Nations in
Thailand, working on a Mekong Rivcr