845.00/1599
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Alling)
Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai called today on some minor matters. I asked him what his impression was of the Indian situation. He said he has the feeling that the rioting has died down but he would not venture to guess whether it was ended. He pointed out that in previous instances when the Congress Party had started civil disobedience [Page 729] and non-violent resistance campaigns the rioting had come later after a period of preparation; in this instance the rioting had started immediately and appeared to have the same general pattern throughout the country, i. e. an attempt to disrupt means of communication.
The Agent General said that he had been giving a great deal of thought to the problem and had come to the conclusion that there was no action which could be taken at this time by the American Government to ameliorate the situation. He went on to say that he did feel quite strongly that it would be advantageous for the American Government to replace Mr. Wilson53 or Colonel Johnson. He said that by having adequate representation at New Delhi not only would this Government be kept better informed of developments but also an experienced representative would be able to bring his influence to bear upon the Viceroy. In this connection, the Agent General pointed out that the Viceroy had been in India for seven years and was probably more or less out of touch with outside opinion, particularly American opinion. He felt it was altogether desirable that the Viceroy should be kept currently up-to-date on opinion as it developed in the United States.
- Thomas M. Wilson, former U. S. Commissioner at New Delhi.↩