asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he is in a position to indicate the reasons which motivated India to oppose the admission of this State to membership of the United Nations Organisation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - India and Irish Membership of U. N. O.
It is quite wrong to suggest that India opposed the admission of Ireland to membership of the United Nations Organisation. I welcome the opportunity of saying this because I know from the communications I have received from the Indian Government, and from the leader of the Indian delegation at the assembly, that they are as anxious as we are that any misunderstanding that exists in regard to this matter should be removed.
What happened was that, at the recent Assembly of the United Nations, the Australian and some other delegations proposed resolutions asking the Security Council to reconsider a number of applications for membership, including that of Ireland, and the Indian delegation voted against these resolutions on the ground that some of their clauses were contrary to the Assembly's Rules of Procedure and to the recommendations of a procedural committee of which the leader of the Indian delegation had been chairman. In the course of her speech explaining her opposition to the resolution, the Indian delegate said:—
"It is for this purely procedural reason that the Indian delegation, in spite of their very definite opinion in favour of the admission of countries like Éire and Transjordan, voted against all the resolutions."
In a later discussion on the same subject, Mrs. Pandit expressed regret that Ireland had not been recommended for admission to the United Nations and said that Ireland was
"not only a peace-loving country but a freedom-loving country, eminently fitted for membership of the United Nations".
The fact is, therefore, that, far from opposing the admission of this country to the United Nations, the delegates of India went out of their way, both at the recent Assembly and on other occasions, to express friendship and goodwill towards this country, and I want to take the opportunity of assuring our Indian friends that these feelings are cordially reciprocated by us.