811.20 Defense (M) India/1211a
The Department of State to the Indian Agency General
Aide-Mémoire
The United States Government and the people of the United States deeply appreciate the aid which has been rendered by the British Indian authorities to the United States forces which are now in India to assist in the prosecution of the war against the Axis nations. This aid and the spirit in which it has been given are splendid examples of the principle of mutual aid governing our common war effort. It is, however, the feeling of the United States Government that it would be mutually advantageous to carry this principle of mutual aid a step further.
It is proposed, therefore, that the reciprocal aid program be extended to include the furnishing, without payment by the United States, of those materials which are imported from India or from Indian sources by agencies of the United States Government.
The United States Government procurement program contemplates the acquisition in India during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1943 by official agencies of the following commodities: bristles, burlap, cashew nut shell oil, ferro manganese, goatskins, jute, manganese, mica, shellac, Sunn hemp, and tea.
The foregoing is not, and by its nature cannot be a definitive statement of the specific commodities which the United States Government might wish to bring within the program. It is submitted rather as an indication of the approximate scope of the contemplated program.
In response to a request from the Government of the United States to the British Government that its current program of material purchases in the British Empire be transferred to a reciprocal aid basis, the Government of the United Kingdom has agreed to furnish as reciprocal aid materials imported by United States Government agencies from the United Kingdom, Southern Rhodesia and the Colonies, and has requested that the United States discuss with the Governments of the Dominions and of India the procurement program in so far as it relates to their respective areas. It is understood that the British Government has kept the Government of India informed regarding its conversations with the United States Government on the subject.46
It would be greatly appreciated if the Agent General for India would make the foregoing known to the appropriate authorities in order that discussions of detail can be undertaken.
- For previous correspondence relating to this subject, see Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. i, pp. 537 ff.↩