According to latest reports from U.N. headquarters in New York, there is a strong possibility of an Indian contingent being included in the United Nations Emergency Force that is being raised to supervise the Arab-Israeli ceasefire. The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Kewal Singh, had a detailed discussion on the subject when he met the U.N. Secretary-General, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, in New York yesterday.

Though it has been generally agreed that the five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Britain and France — should be kept out of this Emergency Force, there is no discussion yet about its actual composition. The Secretary-General is still discussing with the Arab and Israeli representatives the precise role of the UNEF and the criteria to be followed for requesting various nations to provide troops or funds for this peace-keeping operation.

Before deciding which countries should be invited to participate in it, the Secretary-General has to settle in terms of two resolutions that have been adopted by the Security Council whether the UNEF contingents are to be stationed on both sides of the ceasefire line or in between the two opposing armies on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts. On the last occasion Israel refused to have any U.N. observers on its side, with the result that the entire force had to be stationed on the Arab side.

There is also a qualitative difference between the past and the present situations in the sense that in 1956 the whole of the U.N. peacekeeping force had to remain on the Egyptian side following the Israeli refusal to have these troops on its side, while this time both the Arabs and Israelis have accepted the Security Council resolution without any reservations.