845.24/314
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division, of Near Eastern Affairs (Alling)
While calling on another matter, the Agent General of India, inquired whether any further thought had been given to the informal proposal that a small American mission consisting of two or three experts be sent to India to investigate and report on the economic situation and India’s part in the war. I said that there had been some informal discussions of the matter in the Department and that these discussions were still going forward although no definite decision had been reached.
The Agent General said that he would like to point out certain aspects of the situation in India and the Far East which he thought merited the most serious consideration at this time. He stated that China had undoubtedly put up splendid resistance to Japanese aggression and that the Chinese soldiers were brave and effective fighters as individuals. It was obvious, however, that they were not well equipped and that with communications as they were at present it would be very difficult if not impossible to furnish them with equipment which would enable them to cope with the Japanese menace. In this connection he wished to stress particularly the lack of outside [Page 596] communications with China and the poorly developed system of communications within the country.
On the other hand, the Agent General said he wished to stress the accessibility of India as compared to China and the highly developed system of communications within the country. I believe he mentioned that India had approximately 64,000 miles of railways. He said that at the present time India had under arms approximately one million men of whom a quarter were serving outside the borders of India, in Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Malay. It was his definite feeling that there was almost unlimited manpower in India which could be used provided proper equipment was forthcoming. At this point he mentioned that he had just had a communication from his old friend Sir Claude Auchinleck4 stating that in the recent Libyan campaign Indian troops had done splendid work in the tank corps. The Agent General cited this as a proof of the ability of the Indians to handle the modern weapons.
Sir Girja Shankar said that he thought it impossible to overestimate the importance of the attempt being made to develop the military power of India. Obviously in existing circumstances such assistance as could be given would have to come in large part from the United States. He explained that India already has a steel production well over a million tons a year and that this could be considerably increased. Of the 60,000 items required in modern warfare India itself was now producing 85 percent of the individual items. What they lacked was production in the heavier armament such as tanks and airplanes. They could pretty well take care of themselves in small arms, machine-guns and small arms ammunition.
In these circumstances Sir Girja Shankar urged the desirability of sending a small mission to India to investigate and report upon the possibility of American help being given toward increasing and strengthening Indian armed forces. He said that he had already discussed the matter quite informally at a meeting of the British Supply Council here in Washington and that he had had no unfavorable reaction although he could not go so far as to say that the proposal met with the approval of the British. However, he could not see why the British would object as long as such proposal, if adopted, could only strengthen their position in the Far East.
Sir Girja Shankar also said that he had sounded out informally the head of the Department concerned in the Indian Government and he could assure us of the approval of that official although that did not of course indicate final approval by the Indian Government.
The Agent General went on to say that he had observed in this morning’s newspaper that a Dutch representative had recently been [Page 597] appointed to the Eastern Group Supply Council. This Council, whose seat was in New Delhi (and during the summer months at Simla) had formerly been composed only of representatives from British territories in the Pacific area. Sir Girja Shankar thought that one of the possibilities which any American mission to India might explore would be the possibility of having an American representative sit on the Eastern Group Supply Council. I asked the Agent General what he had in mind as to the composition of such a mission as he had suggested. Did he have in mind as the head of such a mission some person of economic and foreign experience, such, for example, as Mr. Henry Grady?5 He said that he knew Mr. Grady, who had recently visited India, and that he was certainly the type of person whom he would have in mind to head such a mission. He thought, however, that Mr. Grady should be assisted by an Army officer and by one Air Force officer.
I told the Agent General that I would be very glad to bring his observations to the attention of the interested officials in the Department. On his part he said he would be happy to furnish any additional information which we might require.