845.24/577
The Indian Agency General to the Department of State
Aide-Mémoire
Reference is invited to the Department of State Aide Mémoire dated October 6, 1943 on the subject of Reciprocal Aid and to the interim reply sent on November 15, 1943.
The Government of India are gratefully conscious of the extent of the assistance which they have received from the Government of the United States, and appreciating the desirability of extending still further the existing principles of mutual aid, accept the proposals contained in the Department of State’s Aide Mémoire of October 6, 1943, to the extent that the raw materials in question are required directly for war purposes.
The Government of India were under the impression that the scope of the United States Government’s proposals would embrace only raw [Page 283] materials and foodstuffs. They note, however, that the expression used in the Aide Mémoire is “materials” and not “raw materials”. They also note that burlap, which is a manufactured article, is included in the contemplated procurement programme. While the Government of India are prepared, as a special case, to agree to the inclusion of burlap, they would emphasise that, with this exception, their agreement embraces raw materials only and not manufactured goods.
The Government of India propose to give effect to this agreement in respect to each commodity as soon as procedural and administrative arrangements can be introduced in each case.