Office of the Historian

225. Memorandum of Conversation1

SecDel/MC/59
New York, September 29, 1962, 5 p.m.

SECRETARY’S DELEGATION TO THE SEVENTEENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PARTICIPANTS

  • US
    • Secretary Rusk
    • Mr. Richard Sanger, USDel
    • Mr. Robert Oakley, USDel
  • Foreign
    • Foreign Minister Jaja Wachuku of Nigeria
    • H.E. Chief S.O. Adebo, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to United Nations

SUBJECT

  • An African Seat on the Security Council, and the Election of U Thant

Foreign Minister Wachuku of Nigeria then said that the African States were conscious of the fact that in spite of their number they did not have a seat on the Security Council. Other bodies of the UN have [Page 495] recently been enlarged by geographical area and it was the intention of the Africans to raise this matter and try to get two more non-permanent seats added to the Security Council, both of which would be allocated to Africa.

The Secretary said that the US would support the idea of expanding the size of the Security Council and wondered if “someone else” could go to Gromyko and talk to him about this matter, asking him to abandon the Soviet position on Communist Chinese representation for this one question and permit enlargement.

Wachuku said that he personally would like to talk to Gromyko and explain to him that while other parts of the world such as Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, are represented on the Security Council, Africa, with the largest single membership in the General Assembly, is without a vote there.

When Mr. Oakley suggested that there is in fact an African seat on the Security Council at present the Foreign Minister said that neither he nor his African colleagues saw things that way. Morocco and the other North African states were not considered to be African for this purpose due to their membership in the Arab League.

Secretary Rusk then said that in spite of the possibility that the Russians would again bring forward the idea of a troika the United States hoped U Thant would be elected for a full term. He did not think the Russians would push the troika idea hard at this session, but he felt Russia might agree to keep U Thant on only as Acting Secretary General. The first choice of the United States in this matter was to have U Thant become Secretary General for a full term with the approval of the Security Council. If the Russians should block this the General Assembly could vote to have U Thant stay on as Acting Secretary General for a full five-year term in order to keep the machinery of the Secretariat running.

Wachuku replied that what counted was the man, and the work he did, rather than his title. It was essential, however, that the man be able to carry out freely his responsibilities under the Charter and that he be appointed for a full term.

  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Conference Files: Lot 65 D 533, UNGA No. 17. Confidential. Approved in S on October 3. The meeting was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.↩