845.24/278a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Officer in Charge at New Delhi ( Haselton )
627. The Department is conveying information in the following sense to the Indian Agency General and the Indian Supply Mission in Washington. It is thought that the Mission may wish similarly to inform the Government of India:
The program proposed by the American Technical Mission to India under the chairmanship of Dr. Henry F. Grady has been studied by various agencies of this Government. It is the understanding of the Department of State that all of the agencies concerned feel that the implementation of the program is highly desirable, circumstances permitting. The Department of State concurs in this opinion. Study of the various problems involved indicates, however, that currently critical demands for material elsewhere abroad and in the United States and the urgent need of shipping space in connection with other theatres of operation render impossible for the time being the supply to India by the United States of the quantity of material which implementation of the program as a whole would appear to require. Thus, requisitions for supplies for new installations in India of the sort envisaged by the Technical Mission will not ordinarily be approved at the present time. Individual items of this nature which the Indian Agency General or the Indian Supply Mission [Page 744] wishes to urge will, however, be considered on their merits by the appropriate Government agencies in order to determine whether exceptions are warranted. As it is the desire of this Government to render all possible assistance in the manner contemplated by the Technical Mission, the presentation of individual items for study is desired.
It continues to be the intention of this Government to facilitate, in so far as possible, the shipment of supplies for the existing industrial structure in India and for reasonable expansion of existing facilities. Within this category of supplies would be (a) raw materials necessary to maintain production of war materials or essential civilian goods, (b) equipment necessary to guarantee the maintenance of vital production capacity at maximum levels, and (c) equipment for new plants which are practically ready to produce war materials.
It remains the intention of this Government to make every effort to implement all recommendations of the Technical Mission which future developments may render possible and advisable.