845.00/1933
Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations (Murray) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
Mr. Welles: We are sending you herewith for your approval the attached draft telegram39 to Mr. Phillips authorizing him to inform the Government of India that this Government hopes his request for permission to visit Gandhi and Nehru will be granted.
You have doubtless noted that Mr. Phillips proposed in any case to ask the Viceroy for permission to visit these two imprisoned Indian leaders although he considers it doubtful whether the Viceroy will respond favorably to any such request. He believes that the likelihood of a favorable reply would be enhanced if he were authorized to state that we hope his request will be granted.
[Page 213]Mr. Phillips seems to feel that the usefulness of his return to Washington for consultation would be limited if he had not been able to establish any contact with the Congress leaders. This is undoubtedly true.
Entirely aside from the fact that the Viceroy will probably not welcome such a request from Mr. Phillips and that he may not respond favorably to it, I nevertheless feel that the request should be made if for no other purpose than for the record. In view of our vigorous espousal of the principles of the Atlantic Charter and the twice repeated statement by the President that the Charter is applicable everywhere in the world, I think we would be in a very vulnerable position in the future if we adopt an overcautious attitude in situations of this kind merely because we fear “that the British might not like it”.
If in the future the tide of Asiatic opinion threatens to turn against us because of our attitude in the Indian question, we may be glad to be able to cite our efforts in the present connection as evidence that we at least have tried to help even though our efforts prove to be unsuccessful.
- Not attached to file copy, but presumably a draft telegram of April 5 which read: “Your 257, April 2 and No. 262, April 3. For the reasons advanced in these two telegrams you may state that this Government hopes that your request for permission to visit Gandhi and Nehru will be granted.” (845.00/1900)↩