Satya Nandan was a close friend of me and my family for over four decades. He
and I worked together for many years which included productive months at
the Third United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea (unclos) negotiations. Satya was a skilled diplomat who made many substantive contributions
to the peaceful order of the oceans.1 His contributions were comparable to just
a few others such as Tommy Koh of Singapore, who was the President of the
Law of the Sea Conference.
My remarks here refer to just one brief period of Satya’s long life. The rationale for this approach is to offer one concrete example of many available to
illustrate the seminal role he played in the Law of the Sea. The period selected
hopefully provides a manageable focus suitable for an introduction and tribute to Satya. The events occurred during his activities in 1975 when Satya was
Rapporteur of the Second Committee at the Third Conference in Geneva. And
I personally was regularly involved with him in this period of the negotiations.
Satya was an extraordinary public servant for his native Fiji, the United
Nations, the International Seabed Authority and unclos viewed as a whole.
His contributions need to be honored and preserved for humankind, not the
least of which are for serious los scholars. My relationship with Satya started
at the UN General Assembly in the early 1970s (shortly after the “Principles
Resolution” was adopted) when Satya was a young diplomat from Fiji posted
to its UN Mission in New York.