Commentary: A Personal View of Consensus Making in the UN Security Council

A Personal View of Consensus Making in the UN Security Council B y the grace of the Gregorian calendar and the tyranny of the English alphabet, I found myself President of the Security Council in October 1977, at a time when the General Assembly was in full swing and the UN corridors were literally humming with Foreign Ministers. It was a difficult month for any Permanent Representative, in addition to his own work, to preside over the Security Council. Fortunately I was able, with the consent of other members, to let the Council remain in a state of quiet contemplation during the first fortnight, and to postpone to the second half the items that were trying to intrude upon our collectiveconsciousness. The first item that claimed my attention was the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Emergency Force stationed in the Sinai. I was advised by the Secretariat of the delicacy involved in the task of seeking the approval of Egypt for the continued presence of the UNEF on its own territory, and of the even greater delicacy of securing also the ”approval” of Israel. The former task was happily not difficult. The Egyptian Permanent Representative, when approached by me informally, told me that in his personal opinion he thought that there would be no objection in principle on the part of his government to extending the mandate of the UNEF for another year, but he would consult his government and let me know their official response. I then wondered how I should cope with my other delicate task of dealing with Israel. Apparently, according to the interpretation of the parent resolution and in conformity with past practice, Israel’s approval had to be sought and secured. I must confess that I found it difficultm comprehend why Israel’s approval should be obtained to the stationing of the UNEF in the territory of another country, and so I did nothing for some time. Eventually the Permanent Representative of Israel sought me out and wanted to know the situation regarding the UNEF. I had him over promptly to lunch and told him that it was very likely that Egypt would agree to the recommendation of the Secretary-General that the mandate of the UNEF be extended for another year. I added that I was simply conveying this piece of information and enquired what the Permanent Representative of Israel intended to do during the meeting of the Security Council, i.e., whether he would participate in it, and if so, in what manner and to what end. His reply was that he would not participate, unless Egypt intended to do so. I presumed from his reply that Israel would have no objection to the extension of the UNEF’s mandate. Rikhi Iaipal is Permanent Representative of lndia to the United Nations. He served as President of the Security Council in October 1977. 195 lnternationd Security I 196 I thought that in these favorable circumstances there was nothing further to be done, except to convene an informal meeting of the Council and announce how I intended to proceed in the matter. All members were in agreement that at the formal meeting neither Israel nor Egypt need participate in the discussion, and that I should introduce the previous resolution suitably updated. The process of updating was not as easy as I had expected. Israel wanted no changes, not even in punctuation. Egypt preferred changes reflecting the situation as it was, though not changes in substance. In that predicament I thought I should take a hand myself and decide how far I could push Israel and Egypt in the formulation of the draft resolution. The end result was fortunately the happy middle ground and the Council adopted the resolution without any fuss, and I was immensely grateful to the Permanent Representatives of Egypt and Israel for their cooperation. The next item was more complicated. It was the Report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The Council had earlier deferred consideration of this Report until October 1977, evidently because the Presidency would then be Indian. I was under pressure by the Chairman of the Palestine Committee...