244. Memorandum of Conversation, Washington, October 6, 1973.
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE DATE: October 6, 1973 SUBJECT: Nonaligned Conference and Korea PARTICIPANTS: Foreign Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Nepal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard L. Sneider, EA COPIES TO:
During the course of an afternoon, the Foreign Minister and I, occasionally joined by other two had a rambling discourse. The key points that emerged follow: 1) Nonaligned Conference The Foreign Minister was very forthright and strong in his criticism of the nonaligned conference. He felt that the more radical and extreme elements had controlled the conference, overwhelming countries such as Nepal, who are inclined to a more moderate view. He commented that the atmosphere at the conference was "heady." Sympathetic to the Israeli cause, the Minister thought that the Arab nations might have been encouraged to undertake their attack on Israel by this heady atmosphere. On the other hand, Nepal was trapped into accepting the views of the conference leadership and at best could abstain or give no vocal support to the resolutions it inherently opposed. It could not afford to stand up in opposition to the conference consensus, since the pressure of consensus was just too great to withstand. 2) Korea Ambassador Kim and I spent a good deal of time arguing the merits of our position on the Korean resolution at the UNGA. The Foreign Minister was inclined to be sympathetic to the problems faced by the Republic of Korea and recognized the validity of my argument that support for the Algerian resolution could only be destabilizing in Asia with potentially broader and dangerous implications for the region. Consistent with his position on the nonaligned conference, however, the Foreign Minister remained inclined to a position of abstention on both the Algerian resolution and the US-sponsored resolution. Nevertheless, the argumentation presented him did strike sympathetic notes and he appeared prepared to give the problem some further study. Comment: I would not give much hope for a switch in the Nepalese vote, but it is worth continuing to work on Nepal. |
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